Customers wait in line, as others look through record bins, at Record City on Record Store Day, April 20, 2024.
Saturday, April 20, 2024 | 5:22 p.m.
Perched at the end of a residential street just off Sahara Avenue, a faded mauve building sticks out like a sore thumb amid the other beige houses. That, and the line of a few dozen people waiting outside just before 9:00 am Saturday morning.
That’s because it’s no house at all. The renovated residential home is Record City, one of Las Vegas’ oldest record stores. The people in line file in when the store opens for the 17th annual Record Store Day, a national event created to uplift local record vendors.
Inside the small shop are over 40,000 records and hundreds of CDs, spanning decades and genres. Their curator, manager Joey McDonald, greets all customers with a smile and many by name when he’s not answering phones or at the register.
For McDonald, being the manager of Record City for over 24 years has been as much about selling music as it's been about creating a space for Las Vegans.
“The word community comes to my mind,” McDonald said. “It’s important in life in general to have a positive community ... (and) just in general, in life ... I think music brings people together in many ways.”
McDonald managed the original Record City store on Charleston for 24 years before it closed in January 2023 after three decades. The house-turned-shop is now the only Record City in Las Vegas, but McDonald said the singular location allows him to focus more acutely on developing relationships with customers and curating the store’s inventory.
“It’s one of my favorite places,” Record City customer and Las Vegas resident Haylee Cottino said. “I’ve been able to find the best stuff in here, compared to all the others.”
Cottino first visited Record City in January to buy CDs, and when she returned a second time, said that McDonald recognized her despite the dozens of other people that had come into the store. That awareness and care is what she and others said bring them back to the shop.
“I choose this place because of the service,” local musician Robert Wiggin said. “I used to go to the other location before they closed it ... I hadn’t been to this one, but I came because that’s where the service came to.”
The Record Store Day tradition began in 2008 after several independent record store owners came together to create a day to celebrate small, local vinyl sellers. Since then, the event has exploded in popularity, with thousands of stores and several national record labels participating in the festivities.
Famous musicians have also become ambassadors for the annual celebration, providing promotion and exclusive merchandise for the events, including artists Metallica and Taylor Swift. This year’s ambassador, rock band Paramore, released two Record Store Day exclusive vinyl for customers to collect.
Paramore’s Record Store Day exclusives, along with those of many other bands, are only sold in-store during the event and are sparse: Depending on demand, only 100 to 15,000 of each exclusive are made. Stores like Record City sometimes receive just a single copy of some releases.
The event has coincided with a national increase in record sales. Vinyl sales have made a steady comeback since their sales declined in the late 1980’s, growing steadily over the past 16 years, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2022, vinyl outsold CDs in units sold for the first time since 1987 — 41 million records to 33 million CDs.
McDonald said he’s personally seen interest in vinyl skyrocket since the event’s start, across all ages.
“I think every year for the past 15 years, more and more people of all generations are coming back to buy vinyl records,” McDonald said. “It’s kind of a cool thing to see because it is a substantial piece of art: you’ve got the cover to appreciate, the lyrics sheet inside. Its’ something to care for and appreciate.”
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