It is no surprise that vinyl sales hit a record 6.1 million units in U.S. last year. The century-old medium, which rapidly faded from popularity in the 1980s when compact discs were created, has been gradually making a comeback over the past decade.
When you type the word “vinyl” into Google, a link to the hipster-adored Urban Outfitters online store pops up, suggesting that a record player is now one of the hipper things you need to own.
Hear Again, an independently-owned record store cozily located downtown near the Hippodrome, ensures the people of Gainesville will be kept in the loop with the trending revival of vinyl.
Via: Alexandria Clark
People walking by the poster-plastered storefront are assuredly lured into the shop by the superior-sounding quality of music blasting from behind a decorated door that is always swung open. Once you enter the store, the audio-sensory sensation that prompted you to walk in is matched with an overwhelming amount of visual stimuli as you take in the voluminous collection of printed LPs lined on the racks in front of you. Curiosity transforms into a sense of record-digging adventure, and it soon becomes clear that you will not be walking out empty-handed.
Hear Again began in 1994 originally as a music store that housed a seemingly endless amount of CDs and DVDs. Andrew Schaer took over the company in 2006 and began making strides toward transforming it into a shop that brought vinyl to Gainesville.
“I saw that CDs and DVDs sales were kind of taking a nosedive to some extent, and Netflix and Redbox hurt our ability to do as well with the movies,” Schaer said. “I just saw vinyl coming back, and wanted to be a part of it professionally.”
The store relocated to its downtown location in 2009 and re-opened with a selection of 30 new LPs, plus a used section. Throughout the years, the inventory has grown into the thousands and always offers a diverse selection of music of all genres.
Each week, Schaer publishes a list to Facebook of all the records due to arrive by Friday so the customers can always keep up with what’s new. That list gets longer by the week and customers are always welcome to make requests for titles, which Hear Again is often able to fulfill within a week.
Via: Alexandria Clark
Hear Again provides the people of Gainesville with the chance to “walk into a store, go home and play whatever it is they want that night in the best quality possible, rather than wait for it to arrive in the mail.,” according to Schaer. It also caters to the broke college-student budget with prices that are fairer than those of online retailers. (I was pleased to discover this myself when I purchased Of Montreal’s “Gay Parade” earlier this week for only $15.)
The store is distinguishable from other record shops in that it offers a wide range of new LPs as well as classic and used albums. If you, like me, are (still) going crazy over Jack White’s most recent album, “Lazaretto,” take a stroll down to Hear Again and you’ll find it on the shelf. You could even pick up T-Swift’s brand new “1989” (I promise to withhold all judgment). While you’re there, don’t forget to snag a used Pink Floyd or Jimi Hendrix LP.
As the craze for vinyl progresses, a visit to Hear Again will undoubtedly provide an answer to anyone who still asks, “Why vinyl?” It is easy to spend an hour getting lost in the melee of album artwork and hidden gems located in the $2 bins. The shop re-instates the concept that music is so much more than a file streamed off the Internet, and that record-collecting is just as fun for someone who knows very little about the medium as it is for a record connoisseur.
Via: Alexandria Clark
“You have a lot of people in their 20s who have been basically exposed to mostly that throughout their lives. But at the same time, they’ve fallen in love with albums. They’ll hear an album 50 thousand times and love it, but then they’ll go over to somebody’s house to listen to it on record, and they’ll hear tonally the difference between listening to the record versus the MP3, all the little things that in the compression got lost, and it’s a totally different experience.”
When asked his opinion on the one album that everyone should own, Schaer recommended the ‘The Band,” hands down.
“I have often walked up to people who don’t know what they want, put that record in their hands and say, ‘just trust me,’” Schaer said. “It’s one of my favorite albums of all time.”
The album was produced in 1969 and includes the hit ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.’
Via: Alexandria Clark
Hear Again has been expanding since day one in its downtown location and will continue to do so. Record-lovers can expect inventory, new and used, to grow every time they walk into the store. As the vinyl kick continues to grow on into a permanent change, Hear Again will be right there with it to keep the people of Gainesville in the loop.
Feature photo courtesy of: Alexandria Clark
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