Vinyl Collectors and Sellers in the Cross Keys Shopping Centre will soon become a new outpost for Boiler Room Records.
An all-day event was held on Saturday, May 18 to celebrate the handover and shop founder Paul Smith’s semi-retirement.
Paul had previously said it was always his plan to sell the shop before the age of 60 to spend more time with family and wanted to find a buyer who would maintain it as a record shop. Paul will turn 60 in June.
Paul opened Vinyl Collectors and Sellers eight years ago, after Salisbury endured years of having no record shop.
Paul said: “This shop brought back something Salisbury desperately needed.”
Boiler Room Records is operated by Mark Northey, 50, who has been in the record business for five years, after taking over a shop on High Street in Poole that he did not want to see closed down.
He had visited Vinyl Collectors and Sellers before and decided it would be a good expansion for the company.
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Mark said: “I really like the location. I thought, that’s a really good opportunity. I can’t miss that.”
Mark said vinyl continues to enjoy an increase in popularity that shows no signs of stopping.
He said: “Vinyl have seen a massive resurgence. It’s not just a fad now.”
Mark believes part of the appeal is having a physical, tangible product to own.
He said: “It’s a tangible product that’s always going to be there. Today’s new releases are tomorrow’s collectibles.”
Customer Alex O’Shea, 46, who has been a DJ since 1994, agreed that physical media has seen an upsurge, including in younger generations.
He stopped by the shop on Saturday, May 18 to buy his wife a De La Sol vinyl album and his 17-year-old daughter and Eminem CD. He said young people want physical ownership of music again.
Alex said: “The world’s changed now. It was all Spotify now it’s all CDs.”
Mark added that vinyl has qualities not seen in other physical media, such as CDs and cassettes, though these have also seen an upsurge.
He said: “The artwork is more of an impact on a record.
“There’s a warmth to it- a depth and a warmth that you don’t get with CD.”
Paul agreed, citing his experiences of seeing the fascination on children’s faces when they come into the shop and see how the records work.
Paul said: “I get children coming in here and they’re absolutely mesmerised.”
Customers will still see Paul in the shop for two days a week in the coming months, followed by one day a week when the shop’s transition to Boiler Room Records is completed within the next half-a-year.
Paul added he’s excited to see what Boiler Room will do with the shop and is pleased Salisbury will be able to continue enjoying the record store.
He said: “It is really going to put Salisbury on the map.
“Music is really important for the community.”
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