My sister asked me for help "rehoming" the albums she had inherited from our uncle. They were taking up space and collecting dust. Initially, I thought about trying to make money off them for her . . . Ha!
I started by looking up and calling record stores in the Twin Cities. After all, vinyl has made a resurgence in popularity lately! Here are the ones I called:
- Mill City Sound (Hopkins)
- SolSta Records (St. Louis Park)
- Know Name Records (Richfield)
- South Metro Music (Burnsville)
- Roadrunner Records (Minneapolis)
At least the guy at Roadrunner was willing to take a look at them! I drove over and he came out to my car. The basic response I got from these places was that the albums from the 1930s and 1940s were just too old. There's no market for them. One guy even said that he doesn't bother with anything older than Motown or the Beatles.
Then I tried the V/A. They don't have room to store albums and don't even have any turntables any more.
The Librarian from the University of Minnesota Music School library got back to me after a few days (I had left a voice mail) saying that they didn't accept donations and didn't have room to store records.
I haven't heard back from the Minneapolis Central librarian who handles special collections including records. I also haven't heard back from Allison Herrara of NPR Classical music.
I finally posted on Facebook and got lots of suggestions!
- Half Price Books
- Goodwill
- Electric Fetus
- nursing homes
- Ultimate Collectibles (Hopkins)
- Restored Thrift Store (Lakeville)
- Joe Lauro's (www.old78s.com/index.php)
- DJ Records USA (https://djrecordsusa.com/)
The last one emailed a response to my inquiry, but he didn't want any of the albums.
In between my initial attempts and posting on FB, I brought the bags and boxes into the house and made a spreadsheet with the Title, Artist, Label, and any other info that I thought might be helpful. I shared the list with people who expressed interest. There were 393 records! One friend picked about a dozen that interested her and I delivered them to her at church the next Sunday.
Finally, my knight in shining armor appeared! Minneapolis Vintage Music is open Wed-Sat 11am- 6pm. The owner, Scott, specializes in 78s, but he was willing to take ALL the records! We had a lovely chat and I am so appreciative of his willingness to help rehome these records!
1820 East 38th Street in Minneapolis (Cedar & 38th). 612.729.8929.
Vintage Music Company FAQs (I've learned so much on this journey!)
I am so glad to be done with this project! On to another.
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