the best jobs i’ve ever worked were in record stores.

sit behind a counter and play records all day. talk to people about records. explore the shelves and thumb through. scan the album art work. make new discoveries every day.

i was working in an independent record store in Champaign, IL when the decision was made to close up shop because Napster had devastated the business. I went from Record Service to the Virgin Megastore and watched that store slowly give way and become a Forever 21.

twenty years later, record stores are thriving. and I thought the best way I could give back to a world that has given me so much was to re-enter these shrines with my camera and an open mind. Squeezebox is my store. i’ve been shopping at a store owned by Tim Peterson for decades - without realizing it. first HiFi, and then here.

one day, i asked if he would be open to me filming there over the course of a few days. just to give people a free peak behind the scenes of a thriving record and book store. we ran our process - bond call, discovery. and then i went in and shot for a few hours with steve and natasha. and that’s opened a whole new line of business for us - serving these independent stores and helping them make their presence felt in their local communities.

what’s most rewarding about these stores is they aren’t in competition with one another. they work together to serve their shared customers. they want you to shop at the competition. everyone treats this as their curation, not the big box that sells the same thing and tries to win on price and discounts.

this is the first chapter in a love story that i never want to see end.