Dublin’s city centre has found itself inundated with the oddest of entrepreneurial ventures over the past few months. Apparently, Dubliners just can’t get enough craft beer, poké, expensive coffee and €3 doughnuts that are packed with enough sugar to induce Type 2 diabetes. However, while these have quickly flooded our shelves and (somehow) emptied our bank accounts, something which has been on the rise within our city, and globally, has been the purchasing of lovely slabs of analogue music. By that, I mean vinyl records.
Vinyl has made a bold comeback, to such a point that it even nearly put itself out of business. However, that hasn’t stopped the fine people of Dublin from partaking in the age old tradition, an expensive one at that, of vinyl collecting. Although the pros tend to shop online for the best deals, there are still some digging die-hards who still opt to take a trip to their local record store. However, depending on your location that might be difficult.
Blackwax Records is a new venture by seasoned Dublin DJ and collector, Willo, in the form of a single unit record store, buried within the heart of Windsor Arcade on Meath Street in Dublin. After being open for only three weeks, Willo has seen a rake of customers come and go, looking to peruse and purchase what he has to offer. Speaking to TheCity.ie, Willo explained how he got started with his store and why Meath Street?
“It was the cheapest place! I was meant to open in Temple Bar but that fell through and this was the cheapest place going. I’ve been collecting records for years and I’ve always wanted to open a record shop. I used to tell people back at sessions that I would and one night, I just decided to go forward with it,” said Willo.
After looking over his wares, it was interesting to see what kind of records he had for sale, considering the current size of his business. When it comes to selling vinyls, you really have to deliver to your customers. You have to know what they want, before they even enter the shop. I was curious to know what Willo’s selection process was.
“I’m only learning but I’m quickly learning what’s selling now. At the minute it’s just hit and miss. I have nothing direct at the moment. I’m still trying to figure out the market. Some of them are my own records but I’ve also been buying other people’s collections. It’s all about finding the right collections,” continued Willo.
He touched on his future plans before I left, commenting that he hopes to rent out a larger space in order to sell more goods than he can at the moment. I then left with my Kelis single in hand.
At the moment, there are only a handful of record shops open for business in Dublin, with most following their own process of selection when it comes to picking which records to sell. It’s unlike your traditional business in which you can buy in bulk and hopefully sell enough to make profit. All records are hand-picked in the hope of being sold. It’s a delicate business, but one which I’m sure will be sticking around for future generations to have a nose at.
Reporting and images by Conor Shields