Give us the background - when and why did you decide to open a record shop

The shop was born out of lockdown boredom. We (Steve and Dani) are music fans first and shop owners second. As we couldn’t indulge in our hobby of visiting record shops we decided to try and bring the record shop to us. We bought about 100 LPs, built a website, opened some social media accounts, and began selling them from our house or by free delivery to the local area. We spent a few weeks doing pop-up shops in a local café and moved into our current home a couple of weeks after that. It all happened very quickly!
That was two years ago, today we stock a wide range of new records and pride ourselves on having all the key new releases. We are only a small shop, so it is not possible to hold as much stock as we’d like but we are able to order anything that is available at the labels / distributors. Our customers love having this option! We also have a wide selection of second-hand records with prices and genres to suit all pockets and tastes.

Tell us about your store – what’s the vibe

We really wanted Applestump Records to be part of the community, somewhere where local music lovers can come to discover new artists, find out about local gigs and events or just pop in for a chat. We are heavily involved with the annual Words and Music and Roots Festivals and Steve has an alternative music show on our local radio station, The Cat Radio.
Our shop itself is also really special. We’re based in a little market town in Cheshire called Nantwich which is famous for its black and white Tudor buildings and we’re lucky enough to be in one of those buildings. It has such unique character and everyone always comments on how unusual it is. For those of you who are a bit superstitious we even have 17th century carvings above the door that are meant to ward off evil spirits.

Do you remember the first record shop you went to? What about the first record you bought?

Our shop name is a homage to the first shop we ever visited, Applestump Records in Cwmbran, South Wales. During the early 90’s Steve would leave school each day and head straight there, with Guns N Roses’ Appetite For Destruction being the first record he bought. Sadly, the shop was forced to close when the big boys, namely Our Price and MVC, came to town and started throwing their far greater buying power weight around. It was the end of Applestump Records, Cwmbran but the start of a lifelong music obsession so it seemed only right that we resurrected the name.

Whta's the best gig you've been to?

There are so many to choose from! We’re still on a bit of a Glastonbury high from this year (Steve’s tenth and Dani’s first) so that would be right up there.

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