Featured Store: Vinylstore Jr

Vinylstore Jr, has a distinct focus on the new and exciting, new releases, limited editions, willfully obscure psychedelia from places as far flung as Russia, Scandinavia, and South America. Basically, the kind of things you’re not likely to find in HMV.

Owner Nick Pygott had wanted to run a record shop pretty much most of his life, but was distracted by other work opportunities such as selling wine, working for charity, running a castle as well as sitting in beer gardens, and going to festivals. During his time selling quality wine his customers included David Gray, Morcheeba, Turin Brakes, and Englebert Humperdinck.

Nick stocks vinyl only and reasons that it isn’t so much a purist decision as a pragmatic one. Vinyl is a “growth sector” as they say in business circles and trying to duplicate stock by selling everything in more than one format would be too costly. So, he is sticking with vinyl. Because it sounds better, it looks better and it feels better.

 
I asked Nick how his first 7 months of trading have been
“We’re primarily a small indie shop, all new and all vinyl, with a focus on new releases, and searching out exciting new sounds. Canterbury is a City with broad tastes. We’ve had to rapidly expand sections like hip-hop, electronica, soundtrack and jazz because there’s a huge appetite for them round here.

We try to have a pretty fluid and dynamic range, so that people will always find something new on every visit. We had a fantastic ‘Record Store Day’ which helped get the word get out about the shop.”

I asked Nick about what Proper/essential releases he was enjoying
“There are things we always try to keep in stock. From Red Essential, we’d generally always have Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works ’85-’92 in. And Run the Jewels RTJ3 has deservedly been our biggest selling rap album of the year by a mile.

Proper are very good at tracking down the obscure stuff you can’t get elsewhere, particularly imports, so every delivery from Proper is a real mixed box of delights.”

If you would like to be Proper’s Featured Store, contact Graham Jones