ARVADA, Colo. — After 34 years in business, Black & Read, an independent music, book and game store in Arvada, is expanding thanks to a resurgence in vinyl.
"We found the perfect spot, so really excited about it," said Michael Baca, music manager at Black & Read. "We just want to have enough room to do anything. There's a rumor about us making a stage so we can have live music and bands. It's going to be really neat, so we're just trying to get positive and really work on it."
Baca first came to the store as a customer in his teens and has been working as a manager for the past 24 years. Over the decades, he has seen the evolution of how people consume music.
"I think just people like stuff, you know. We all like to collect things, whether it's antiques from your mom, your friend or something like it, so it's all a part of that," said Baca. "It's just a nostalgia, and I think many parents and aunts, uncles gave their records to their children and their children's children, so it came back. It couldn't help but come back."
The obsession over vinyl records is also noticed by Shane Endsley, a senior lecturer at Metropolitan State University of Denver and a performer.
"For someone who's at a show, there's a chance to take a memento home from the show," Endsley said. "The vinyl is really special that way. The art looks so great, and it has a real warmth to the sound that's kind of different than the sort of streaming quality of the music that we often listen to. So I think people start to really gravitate towards that."
- Endsley reflected on the evolution of how people listen to music in the video player below
"I think it's cool, I have like a physical piece of media," said Ethan Nguyen, who started coming to Black & Read in 2021. "I think with streaming services now, they can basically take away the music that you enjoy at any time, so it's important to own physical media. It's cool to have it blown up. You can look at it while you’re listening to it."
Nguyen heard the news of Black & Read's expansion and stopped in Tuesday to help with the move.
"The shop is kind of small. If you've been back towards the board game/books section, it's like really crowded, so I think it's going to be nice to see them in a new space," he said
Black & Read has a 20% sale on everything through Jan. 26. Their new store will be located at 6655 Wadsworth Boulevard in Arvada.
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