Vinyl records are making a comeback, and Matt Hewlett has gotten on the bandwagon.
Hewlett, a former restaurateur from Vancouver, recently moved to Duncan and opened up Full Bug Records at 171 Jubilee St. in Duncan.
He said many of those who sold their record collections in the 1990s are looking to revive them, and a new and younger generation of listeners have begun taking to vinyl records as well.
He said that while some believe the sound from vinyl records is better quality than CDs and the music that is downloaded from the internet, many of his customers just like the more interactive format that records, many of which have large 12-inch by 12-inch jackets, come in as they are typically covered in interesting information about the band and may even have posters.
“People also want a physical copy of the music, instead of just downloading it,” Hewlett said.
“The record industry has never stopped and there has always been independent stores selling records even when most people switched to CDs, and Columbia and Warner Bros. have never stopped making them. The industry is coming back big time, and the ages of my customers since I opened three weeks ago has been between 15 and 70, so there’s a big and growing market out there.
“I thought I’d need to find record collectors, but they are finding me.”