One might think a record store was the epitome of nostalgia—a throwback to times when music media was physical and had to be purchased to be heard, not a hangout for Generation Z to discover tunes.
So perhaps the most surprising aspect of Recycled Records is its clientele, which includes patrons under 10 years old with Walkmans and teenagers buying cassette tapes and LPs.
“It’s just a vast array of different age groups and different types of people,” owner Eric Jacobson said. “It’s neat that young people are wrapped up in The Beatles and Pink Floyd and [Led] Zeppelin. I never thought it would go like this.”
While records are the most popular inventory item in the shop, including both new and used albums, Recycled Records, which relocated to the Crossroads Shopping Center, 4048 Kietzke Lane, nine months ago from its long-time Midtown store, also sells CDs, cassette tapes, DVDs, Blu-rays, record players, music equipment, posters and stickers.
“There’s a[n] element of nostalgia involved in it for sure,” Jacobson said. He said he reminisces about afternoons spent devouring new music, sitting on his bed as a youth and thumbing through the artwork.
“It’s just a whole different experience.”
Jacobson said that may be what the new generation is glomming onto. After a lifetime spent streaming music, they’re after the experience of physical music media.
He attributes the rising record trend to the sound quality of the product. “Records sound amazingly better,” he said, comparing them to CDs and adding the quality of records is the same as it always was. “The fidelity is still there.”
And people of all ages come in to pick up both new releases and rarities. Jacobson and his two business partners, Kyle Howell and Mike McDonald, have made a habit of collecting, including reissues of Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie but also new punk rock, metal and even Taylor Swift.
He said he owes his success, in large part, to the trio’s ability to pivot. After purchasing the store from long-time owner Paul Doege, Jacobson, Howell and McDonald have made some changes, but not too many. Jacobson, after all, was the store manager for 28 years before he purchased Recycled Records with his two friends.
The store moved to a new location after rent was about to double on their Midtown location, and they pivoted to a more even mix of used and new products. “We started buying thousands of dollars worth of new records each week,” he said. Before, the focus was on used records, which served the store well when there were other independent record stores around, most of which have since closed.
There are other independent music stores, but at 3,000 square feet, Recycled Records is the largest, according to Jacobson.
The busiest days of the year are Record Store Days, a twice-annual event where record distributors sell limited edition and specialty products to independent record stores. The products cannot be sold to big box stores, causing a frenzy in local communities with audiophiles lining up 100 deep when the store opens.
The next event is on April 20. Ahead of the date, Jacobson said he will get a catalog of available inventory from the Record Store Day organization that he can order from. Not everything is guaranteed, but he said they wind up with a lot of cool stuff.
The second event is on Black Friday. “We get a lot,” he said, adding many of the releases are limited pressings of live music. “People are just crazy for it.”
On a regular day, the Recycled Records inventory is largely influenced by its three owners. Jacobson is a fan of artists like King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and David Bowie, so all of those are on the shelf. He also, however, likes some newer bands, citing Ty Segall, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, the Osees, and the Black Angels as favorites.
It’s also important to sell what’s popular, so despite a lack of knowledge about Taylor Swift, Recycled Records keeps her music in stock, too, and admittedly sells a lot of it.
For Jacobson, owning a record store just makes sense. A self-proclaimed music fanatic since he was 5 years old, Jacobson was hired by Howell at Musicland in the Meadowood Mall at his mom’s suggestion at age 18. Jacobson and Howell worked part-time together in record stores starting in 1986, including Recycled Records, and during that time, they even talked about the day they would own a record store together.
“I’ve worked in a record store since I was 18, and I’m currently 56,” Jacobson said.
At the new store, which is bright, spacious and clean, Jacobson said they’re killing it. In fact, he said they see a more intentional audience since moving. Instead of catching those browsing the shops along the Midtown stretch of South Virginia Street, Recycled Records has become a destination, and they see dedicated customers multiple times per week.
The new location is just around the corner from Recycled Records’ previous locale by the Olive Garden on Kietzke Lane and South Virginia Street, where it sat for 24 years. Before that, Recycled Records was part of Wells Avenue.
“We appreciate the community’s support and just the frequency of their visits,” Jacobson said. “This community is so good to us.”
