West Side native creates community hub with The Kutt Records shop
A new addition to the Columbus vinyl shop scene, The Kutt Records is more than meets the eye.
Open since June, the West Side store sells vinyl albums, 45s, CDs and cassettes, as well as skateboards, sneakers and clothing. It also has a dance floor.
“It started just off me having a love for music, being a DJ, collecting records," said 28-year-old owner and West Side native Zachary Grashel. "I looked around and saw that I had a bunch of records I wasn't using, and I decided that I would try to sell this amazing music to people who might appreciate the physical copies more than me."
Grashel said his youth inspired the other offerings.
"I grew up skating here on the West Side. And every time I broke a skateboard, I had to go to campus or Dublin or wherever. So, I decided to add skateboards and sneakers and clothing here as part of street culture, but I also thought that maybe I could save a local kid a trip. ... I wanted to serve where I am.”
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Right now, the store — a one-man operation — is open at 2358 W. Broad St. for limited hours: Wednesdays to Fridays from 2-8 p.m., Saturdays from 1-9 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 7 p.m.
Monday evenings, from "8 until late,” are a little special.
“It started out being just a practice for the local breakdancers. I built a dance floor in the store with that in mind. Lately, it's been customers in the store buying records, and we always have a live DJ, and a bunch of breakdancers," said Grashel, who learned to breakdance at Westgate Recreation Center when he was a teenager.
"There are groups of kids who are now interested in it, who never were before. It's a nice, organic way of showing this to people who have maybe never seen it before."
He's also planning a Halloween-themed Album Cover Party from 8-11 p.m. on Oct. 27, in conjunction with the dance studio next door, Natural Talent.
“It's a party where people dress up like their favorite album cover. I think we're going to have a fashion show-type thing because the building is like a long rectangle. And whoever wins, we'll give them a Halloween-type album. People can still come in and shop. We'll probably have people breaking and dancing and doing all sorts of stuff.”
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Grashel wants to keep his focus on serving the local community.
“Sometimes people only come in because they know I have sneakers on the wall, or they come in for the clothing. Some people are just diehard record people," he said.
"And then some people only come in on Monday night because they want to learn something, or they want to rub elbows with people who are a little more seasoned, whether they're breakdancers or DJs or rappers. We bring all these people together here to build that local culture."
Grashel also strives to make his music accessible.
“I don't think buying and collecting music should be a rich person's sport," he said. "A lot of the records I have in here are marked way down because of that. Everything I buy for the store, I buy because I have a connection to it. I don't buy stuff just to sell it, I buy it because it's good.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: The Kutt Records offers vinyl albums, dance floor on West Side
