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

Our Great Nan Dorothy loved music, and she bought the shop after the war in 1947. She started off selling 78rpm records and eventually began selling musical related items too, like sheet music, harmonicas, guitar strings and fancy goods. As the LP format became more popular, it had transitioned into becoming solely a record shop by the 1960s.

Wow! There’s so much history to your shop. Any stories?

To be honest, we like to keep it old school here, and take pride in our 4 generations of history!

We've recently spent the past 14 months restoring Dorothy's former living room (which had become a stock room) into a second shop floor/museum. This has been a great way to get more stock out and display more of the shops historic items. All the walls were decorated using the shops' memorabilia hidden in stockrooms, and the furniture was all Dorothy's. The shop is still furnished with its original 1879 fittings to this day.

During the renovation we found some of our old record sales logbooks in a cupboard which date back to as early as the 50s. Out of curiosity we began researching the release days of Beatles records to see how many we'd sold. We showed the books to the Mathew Street Beatles Museum in Liverpool who kindly offered to display them at the museum. With their help we're able to solve a 64-year-old mystery!

The story goes that, in the early 1960s, two young lads left the shop and a group of girls who were in the shop at the time screamed "that was The Beatles!". The Beatles Museum contacted Pete Best, who confirmed he was a frequent visitor with John Lennon in the early days. We thought we'd never find out who it was!

Can you remember the first record you sold in your shop? What about the last?

Can you remember the first record you sold in your shop? What about the last?

Do you remember your first visit to a record shop? Did you pick up any records?

The first record shop I ever went in would have been our own. I was born above the shop in 1961 and lived there till I was 18!

Living above a record shop did have it's benefits. I used to "borrow" records from downstairs but the first record I remember buying with my own money was Queen - ‘Night At The Opera’.

Tell us about your favourite record shop memory

During Christmas of 2021, we were confused when opening an LP sized package despite not having ordered anything.

What we found was a 1 of only 50 “Happy Xmas War Is Over” acetate gifted from Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon. It was to celebrate the 50th anniversary and we are so thankful to be amongst the few who received it!

How successful has Record Store Day been for your store?

2024 will mark our 4th Record Store Day!

Every year it gets bigger and has brought in a new wave of lovely customers for us. It's become one of the highlights of the year!

OTHER RECORD STORES