Record Store Day falls on 4/20 this year; see which shops are participating
Karen Kron, 65, grew up with vinyl records and thought they were a thing of the past.
When Kron started a business in 2018 to sell her art and vintage items she had accumulated over time, her old records were the biggest hit.
By the time she opened a brick-and-mortar shop in downtown Stuart called Vintage Vibes 420 at 420 Colorado Ave. on April 20, 2020, the vinyl record scene had exploded during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We became a record store by accident,” Kron said. “People just want records. I was oblivious.”
Looking back: Vinyl record store sales spike, surpass CDs for first time
Once she officially switched from vintage shop to record store, she started participating in the annual international event for Record Store Day.
All the numbers align for Kron at this year’s event, which happens to fall on April 20 — the same as her shop’s anniversary, address and name.
Two other record stores on the Treasure Coast are participating this year: Sounds Good Music in Port St. Lucie and Wax Records in Vero Beach. The Roasted Record in Stuart isn’t participating because it’s more of a coffee shop with a small vinyl record collection.
Record Store Day features special releases that can’t be found anywhere other than independent record stores participating in the international event. Those stores can’t accept any holds, can’t overprice special releases and can’t sell them online until the next day.
Even Walking Tree Brewery in Vero Beach is getting in on the 4/20 celebration with a “Vinyl Revival” event to spin, swap or sell records.
Record Store Day was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1,400 independently owned record stores in the U.S. and thousands of similar stores internationally, according to its website. The first Record Store Day was celebrated April 19, 2008.
It’s first-come, first-served on Record Store Day — and only about five people can fit inside Kron’s small store at a time. Customers are allowed to buy one record of each title. If they want more, they have to get back in line.
“It’s a day where people can get together and go to independent record stores, help their community out by going to mom-and-pop shops,” Kron said, “and get records.”
TREASURE COAST RECORD STORES
Vintage Vibes 420
Karen Kron opened her record store in Stuart in 2020, near Confusion Corner and across from Kiwanis Youth Park. She started selling her art and vintage items at a booth in Okeechobee for two years before she opened what she intended to be a vintage shop but turned into a record store. She offers new vinyl records but specializes in vintage vinyl records.
Sounds Good Music in Port St. Lucie
The late Andrew Royo opened his record store in Port St. Lucie in 2003 but moved to a larger location on U.S. 1 near the Savanna Club in 2015. He fell in love with vinyl while working in a record store from high school to college. In his 40s, he was inspired to open Sounds Good Music by one of his friends who owns the longtime Radio-Active Records in Fort Lauderdale. After Royo passed away in 2022, Frank Corrado took over the business.
Wax Records
Saxon Julin and his dad, Jason, opened their record store in 2014 in the Majestic Plaza. He said he always was fascinated with how a vinyl record works. They would always shop for records whenever they went to New York City and wanted to bring something cool to Vero Beach. They opened Wax Records with their own collection of about 2,000 records.
The Roasted Record
Mike Mann, a PGA golf professional, began roasting coffee as a hobby and started selling it in 2014 before he opened a brick-and-mortar shop in 2017 in Stuart. He just needed a place to roast coffee, but the shop grew into a coffeehouse and vinyl record store. In 2020, it moved about 500 feet up the block on Colorado Avenue to attract more foot traffic.
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Record Store Day falls on 4/20 this year; see which shops participate