South Florida's vinyl record stores will open early Saturday morning, on the seventh annual dawning of Record Store Day.
The international event promotes independent record stores and aims to boost their business. The day is highlighted by special releases only available to independent retailers, and re-issues of classic records.
Evan Chern, owner of Yesterday & Today's Records in Miami, says his store experiences a spike in sales that day.
"Even though we may not partake like some of the other stores do with some of the special releases," he says, "[Record Store Day] brings a bit of an awareness to that there are stores out there, your mom-and-pop neighborhood places that carry vinyl."
Below is a clip of one of Chern's favorite records from his store:
Despite the ease and accessibility of digital music, Mikey Ramirez of Radio-Active Records in Fort Lauderdale says his vinyl records sales are up.
“It says something," he says. "It says a lot about the people that come in here and continue to support these stores, and purchase tangible items whereas a lot of people feel they can still go steal music from the internet.”
This is one of Ramirez's favorite records:
Lauren Reskin, owner of Sweat Records in Little Haiti, attributes the growth in vinyl sales to a generation that grew up in an era of digital music.
“There’s a generation below me that never had a physical format of music at all and I think there’s a big sort of rebellion against that, where people want to have a physical representation of their music," she says. "That’s why there’s teens coming in here buying records that are three times as old as they are. Teenagers coming in buying the Velvet Underground and John Coltrane and stuff like that -- because music is timeless and vinyl is a format that sounds amazing, and is a way to connect to that era.”
This is one of Lauren's favorite records:
Record Store Day isn't only marked by sales and special releases. Both Reskin and Ramirez will be hosting special events at each of their respective stores with live music, food trucks, giveaways and of course, lots and lots of records.
Sweat Records will host a Record Store Day block party, SweatStock, at 5505 NE Second Ave., Miami.
Radio-Active Records will have live local bands, free coffee and refreshments at 845 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale.
