Vinyl Resurgence Keeps Record Shop's Business Grooving

What once was old is now new, and that has spelled steady business for Richard McGlashen of Lake Orion's Broadway Records.

Broadway Records, 8 W Shadbolt St., primarily deals the traditional shiny black records many middle-aged music fans likely have stacked in their attics as the format enjoys a commercial resurgence among audiophiles and collectors, and new vinyl records continue to be pressed each week.

"It's pretty much why I'm still here," McGlashen, who opened his store in 1982, said of the format's recent popularity.

McGlashen admits he wasn't sure how much longer he would stay in business after he turned 65 last year, and he suffered a setback in 2004 when a kitchen fire at Sagebrush Cantina decimated much of his collection at his former location alongside the restaurant. When he recently inherited the collection of a friend who had died and put the records up for sale in his shop, however, he saw there's still plenty of demand for vinyl records. 

"There's something about vinyl people like," he said.

McGlashen attributes this to the warm, deep sound the records produce, and the fact that even in this digital age, people enjoy owning something tangible. 

"There's something to holding an old album in your hands and reading the liner notes," he said. 

Records have become so popular again, they even have their own holiday. Record Store Day, held each year in late April, supports independent shops such as Broadway Records by offering exclusive releases of new music and reissues of classic albums. The ripple effect has equaled big sales for the format.

According to Rolling Stone, 2013's Record Store Day pushed more than 200,000 vinyl records out the door at independent shops across the U.S., and the format accounted for 37 percent of all music sales that week, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures. 

"I'll keep riding the wave of vinyl popularity," McGlashen said. 

McGlashen, who counts a Roger Miller album as his first-ever music purchase, began collecting records as the Beatles exploded onto the U.S. music scene in the 1960s. After a stint of living in California for 10 years, the Oxford-raised music fan opened shop in 1982 and never looked back.

"I never thought it would last this long," he admits. "But it beats working for a living."