If you were a music lover between the 1960’s and 1990’s, you may remember the excitement of peeling that thin plastic layer from the outside of your favourite artist’s vinyl record in a pre-internet era. Tom certainly does.
Tom has always loved music and records. So, when he came to the realisation ‘pretty quickly’ that his eighteen-year-old vision of becoming a famous rock guitarist probably ‘wasn’t going to happen,’ he turned his attention to collecting records instead. And it may have turned out to be one of Tom’s wisest long-term investments, despite not realising it at the time.
The heyday of vinyl records was without doubt during the 1960’s and 1970’s and few could have imagined it’s entire collapse in the early 1990’s, with the advent and seduction of compact discs.
However, Tom continued listening to and collecting records of all genres until, decades later in 2015, and with ‘vinyls’ becoming ‘cool’ again, he decided to gather his treasures and open his first preloved record store in Bungendore. Despite its success, due to subsequent bushfires, a pandemic, and a general decline in traffic, Tom later closed the store in 2020, but with “…so much stock left over”, he says.
Fast forward to July 2023, and with the demand for vinyl records curiously re invigorated, Tom decided it was time to dust off his treasures once again, and the Kingston Retro and Records Emporium (RARE) was born.
Initially the store occupied only a tiny corner of Eyre Street and Highgate Lane and Tom’s focus was on just selling records.
“I just get so excited about it because I like to talk to people about what they like and what they don’t like,” he says.
However, Tom quickly saw the need to expand his offerings to meet the growing demand for vinyl related products and has added stereo equipment to his inventory. This, in addition to stocking even more vinyl, and music related preloved t shirts, has meant that the store has almost tripled in size this year. Tom is very excited about his stereo equipment.
“This includes amplifiers, turntables and speakers, both preloved and new,” he says.
And is there really a market for these?
“You bet!” says Tom. “As people are getting wind of what we have here, we are selling more and more of the stereo equipment,” he says.
This should be no surprise. Last year the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), reported that vinyl albums are continuing their growth, jumping nearly 23 per cent to $36.9 million in sales, making them the fastest growing category. Vinyl accounted for 63.4 per cent of total physical sales in 2022 by dollar value and 36.2 per cent of physical sales by volume.
And what’s behind the renewed interest in vinyl records? Tom believes it’s the quality of the sound.
“The older generation are rebuying records that they used to have, the middle demographic has worked out that music on vinyl sounds better because it has more depth, and the younger generation are thinking that it’s just pretty cool,” he says.
And it’s hard to argue with that. To place a record on a turntable, lift a needle and put it down again to absorb your favourite music, is a different experience altogether than to click on a digital playlist.
And Canberrans seem to agree, if the constant stream of customers to RARE seven days a week is any indication.
