Need space to store your vinyl records? This small business makes furniture for that.

Jan 18, 2024
Matthew Wicker, owner of Oregon-based WickerWoodWorks, is profiting from the renewed popularity of records and record players.
Wicker makes handmade pieces to store vinyl records and turntables.
Courtesy Matthew Wicker

Mississippi record store owner hopes "greatest hits" compilations sound good to collectors

Sep 13, 2023
While vinyl record prices remain a concern for Phillip Rollins of OffBeat, he thinks lower-priced "greatest hits" albums may entice customers.
Phillip Rollins, owner of OffBeat in Jackson, Mississippi, says collections of popular work by artists such as En Vogue and Notorious B.I.G. could get more people interested in buying records.
Courtesy Rollins

This record store wants to prove that downtown Jackson, Mississippi, is a destination

Jun 12, 2023
"There's always something to do here," says Phillip Rollins, owner of the store OffBeat. "People just don't know how to find it."
Phillip Rollins' store, OffBeat, was part of 601JXN, an event that aimed to bring people downtown.
Courtesy Rollins

As vinyl record sales eclipse CDs, LP pressing plants are thriving

May 1, 2023
Streaming is still king, but vinyl sales continue to grow.
Sales of vinyl records by volume overtook CDs in 2022 for the first time since 1987. The resurgence of the format has meant a boom in vinyl manufacturing, but there have been bumps along the way.
Henry Epp/Marketplace

A window into LA's budding scene for Latin vinyl records

Mar 9, 2023
At Sonido del Valle in Boyle Heights, owner Rene Perez said Latin vinyl records are the main attraction, not just another section.
Sonido del Valle owner Rene Perez stands in front of a case of vinyl records for sale at his shop in Boyle Heights, CA.
Marketplace/Erika Soderstrom

Amid Black Friday sales, retailers are still dealing with inflation

Nov 23, 2022
From records to chocolate to bicycles, three small businesses describe how they're doing ahead of Black Friday.
As shoppers flock to stores this Black Friday, small businesses are still weighing how to handle rising prices.
Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images

In the pre-holiday scramble, small businesses see a little bit of supply chain relief

Oct 26, 2022
The owners of a record and comic book shop, a toy store, and a greeting card and outdoor gear business share their experiences.
Shelves of comic books and record bins at Phillip Rollins' new OffBeat location, in Jackson, Mississippi.
Courtesy Phillip Rollins

For public good, not for profit.

"Inflation is gut-punching my business," record store owner laments

Aug 12, 2022
Vinyl records are a big part of Phillip Rollins' business at Offbeat in Jackson, Mississippi. But rising costs make them a harder sell.
Phillip "DJ Young Venom" Rollins, of the Offbeat record store and art gallery, would like to see the prices of vinyl records go down. "The demand is up there, just the supply is kind of low."
Courtesy Rollins

How the vinyl resurgence keeps pressing forward

Industry leaders are seeking new ways to sustainably keep the music playing.
The demand for vinyl keeps growing, even as the industry works around supply chain issues.
TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images

Hot property market puts Nashville record shop, and other small businesses, at risk

Dec 17, 2021
The owners of the Groove are struggling to come up with $500,000 to buy the bungalow that houses their store.
The Groove is a small record shop whose owners hope to buy the property they work in so the business can survive.
Paige Pfleger