Vinyl in Charlotte

Charlotte’s record stores survived the CD, the download and the stream, and there are more of them now than in 2005, spread from Plaza Midwood to the ring-town Main Streets and the back corners of the antique malls. This guide is the map: the two anchors, the newer shops, the dealers inside other stores, the ring towns and the gear. None of the record stores are in the directory yet, so the facts come from the stores’ own sites and the outlets that list them, and the businesses around them link to the directory. If you run one, list it; this is the guide that most wants you.

The anchor: Lunchbox Records

Lunchbox Records at 825 Central Avenue in Plaza Midwood has been the city’s record store since 2005, owned by Scott Wishart, a new-and-used shop selling LPs, CDs, DVDs, 7-inches, cassettes, stickers, books and a full line of turntables, needles, belts and cartridges, per its site; it runs listening parties and the biggest Record Store Day line in the city (Lunchbox Records, Wanderlog). Open noon to 6 daily, 1 to 6 Sunday (Yelp). The tourism office’s listing describes a huge selection across blues, rock, punk, jazz, international and metal with prices from a dollar to a hundred (Charlotte’s Got A Lot). Our read: it’s cramped, the parking is bad and the staff know everything, which is the description of every great record store. Eat after on Central; the taco guide starts a mile east.

The elder: Repo Record

Repo Record has bought and sold new and used vinyl, CDs and cassettes in Charlotte since 1988, across R&B, rock, metal, hip-hop and jazz, and buys select used equipment, noting on its site that silver-faced gear is worth more than black (Repo Record). Hours run noon to 6 Monday, noon to 7 Tuesday through Friday, 10 to 7 Saturday, noon to 5 Sunday (Repo Record). Thirty-eight years in the same trade is the longest run of any music business in the city. Collectors drive from Virginia for its CD bins, per the reviews (Yelp).

The newer shops

Hardy Boys Records & Comics has locations at Camp North End (701 Keswick Avenue), on Camden Road in South End and inside Homestyles Gallery in Mint Hill; Noble Records in Matthews was among the best-rated and was listed as moving soon (My City Magazine, Keep Them Spinning). Poet’s Vault sits inside the Sleepy Poet Antique Mall on South Boulevard (My City Magazine). The Camp North End location is the one to pair with a walk; the Rail Trail’s murals are two stops down the Blue Line from the South End shop.

Inside the antique malls

Two of the region’s record dealers live inside the antique malls our antiquing guide covers: Hey Boo Records and Old Dog Records inside Main St. Antiques in Mooresville, the 160,000-square-foot mall, and Palmetto Groove Records inside Catawba River Antique Mall in Belmont (My City Magazine). A record booth in an antique mall is where the estate-sale collections end up, priced by someone who may or may not know what they have. That’s the appeal.

The ring towns

Old Town Vinyl on Catawba Avenue in Cornelius for the lake. Mad Jack’s Records & Comics on West John Street in Matthews. Jampac Records on South Main in Monroe. JG’s Vinyl on West Main in Gastonia, a block from Piedmont Delicatessen. Palmetto Groove’s own shop on North Congress Street in York (My City Magazine). Each is a Main Street store in a town whose Main Street has come back, and each is on a town page here. A Saturday that hits three of them with lunch from the town pages is a good Saturday.

Record Store Day

The April Saturday when the shops open early with the limited pressings and the line forms before dawn. Lunchbox posts its list and opening time in advance (Lunchbox Records). Go to one shop, not three; the exclusives are gone by 9. The November Black Friday edition is smaller and calmer.

The gear

Lunchbox sells turntables, needles and cartridges (Lunchbox Records); Repo buys used equipment (Repo Record). For the real system, KS Audio Video in Cornelius is a full-service technology retailer and installer with music and audio among its lines, and Alpha Technology Solutions does whole-home audio. Turntable repair is the hard part; the reviews mention a repairman named Bill whose availability is uncertain (Yelp), and the honest answer is to ask at Repo, which has been fixing the problem since 1988. For the furniture that holds the collection, Innbo and McSwain’s build it.

The music around the records

The live side is in the live music guide: BoatYard‘s bands, Zona Rosa‘s salsa, Two Buck Saloon‘s country. Vinylly Wed is a wedding DJ whose name is the pun. All the Right Grooves is the city’s all-female DJ company. School of Rock teaches the kids who’ll be buying records in 2040. And Beer Money Entertainment books the bands whose records the shops sell.

Digging in Charlotte

The rule: Plaza Midwood for the new pressings and the deep catalog, Repo for the used bins, the antique malls for the estate collections, the ring towns for the surprise. Bring cash for the booths, bring a list for Record Store Day, and bring the old turntable to Repo before you buy a new one. Know a shop we’ve missed, or run one? List it; the shopping directory has no record stores yet, and it should have ten.