According to Forbes, vinyl record sales have seen a growth of 260 percent since 2009. The recent success has also led to the opening of record stores. The Auburn Plainsman spoke to Allie Fox, owner of Musictown Records in downtown Opelika about her business.
Below is a Q&A session with Fox about her record store.
Q. When did Musictown Records Open?
We opened February 20, 2015.
Q. Do you specialize in any genres?
I try not to specialize in any specific genre. I try to be as diverse as possible. The only things that we don't buy are classical and musical records because we already have so many.
Q. How has the store been appealing to the City of Auburn?
It's pretty much all new people for the most part. We have a few regulars, but I know when they come in. I'm really good with names and faces. So if you buy something and tell me that you are looking for something else, I will remember who you are.
It's mostly college kids in there shopping for vinyl. You'd be surprised at the amount Johnny Cash and George Jones records they buy. We do also have a few from the older crowd that have been collecting records since the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Q. What kind of research do you do for stock and pricing?
I have a back stock of 40,000 records that I pull from periodically. I bought the collection right after we opened. We have people coming in all the time to sell their vinyl.
Basically, the only research we do is for pricing. We check online and try to scale down the prices. People are usually going to spend more online since they will be paying for shipping. And we sell more rock than anything.
Q. Is it ever difficult trying to find a distributor for certain records?
As far as new stock goes, the things that are difficult to get a hold of are albums you normally wouldn't think would be tough to get like the Jimi Hendrix Experience. I waited a year for that to come out of back order. Prince albums after he died are almost impossible to find new or used.
But we typically get new stuff between three days and two weeks. Sometimes we have to wait for a couple of months to get it in.
Q. What are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about record stores?
We get flat-out belittled for not knowing an artist from the fifties who made one record. People will come in looking for their favorite artist, and if you don't know them, they think you have no business being there. Another big misconception is that people think new vinyl is made differently than old vinyl. It's just made thicker so it lasts longer.
At least once a week people will ask if we are a recording studio. They ask if we have CD's and if we sell musical instruments. I had an employee get chewed out because we are the largest record store in East Alabama and we didn't have any CD's
Q. Do you have a “holy grail” of records? :
There is one. I own every Beatles album. I have been collecting them since I was about 15. The one that I cannot find is one they made, a limited pressing of Yesterday and Today. The cover was so offensive. They pulled the record and redid the cover.
The cover is of them at a butcher shop covered in blood.
Q. Which records on the shelves make you cringe?
If it were up to me, we would not carry Taylor Swift. Technically, it is up to me but at the same time, it sells.
I also have a hard time selling bands that don't support the music industry. By that, I mean they only sell their records on vinyl. You have to support digital music in order to sell music. The bands that take a stand against digital music really irk my nerves. Digital music is the way it is now. If you want people to be passionate enough about your music to go buy the vinyl you need to sell it digitally.
Q. If you weren't in this business what would you be doing? :
Well, before this I did photography for a while. I still love photography but I hated being told what to do. Other than that though, I probably be a stay-at-home mom. I had gotten bored and decided that we needed a record store.
Q. What is your favorite part about owning a record store? :
Nobody can judge me for my opinion on music. People can be so quick to judge on who you listen to. My playlist can go from Garth Brooks to Metallica and everything in between. So it's great to share a little piece of that with people.
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