Eastside Records, purveyor of obscure vinyl records in the Valley, will reopen noon Saturday at Southern and Mill avenues as part of Double Nickels Collective.
The record store, previously located near Forest Avenue and University Drive, will be based out of this new collective, which will include contributions from Stinkweeds Records, Meat Market Vintage Clothing, Ash Avenue Comics and King of the Monsters.
Michael Pawlicki, the owner of Eastside Records, said the idea for the collective occurred to him within recent months and came together through collaboration with other hand-picked local businesses.
“I took a bunch of the independent businesses where I knew people and created something where people could collectivize and sell stuff together,” Pawlicki said. “It’s almost like an antique mall but for a younger audience. The focus will be primarily on records and music though.”
Pawlicki said a large part of the decision to start the collective was a move to a bigger retail space, as well as a desire to do something different.
“I was originally looking at moving to a small space but really wanted to do something different and got frustrated,” he said. “I saw this bigger spot and saw that I didn’t have the means and called up these people.”
About two-thirds of those in the collective are established businesses, while others are patrons of the record store who have a knowledge of stereos and music equipment. Pawlicki said the concept of a collective like this was something he had previously seen in cities like Portland.
Kimber Lanning, executive director of Local First Arizona and owner of Stinkweeds Records, said she chose to be a part of the collective, because she believed it would better the community as a whole.
“All these cities are nuzzled up together so everyone is going to benefit," she said. "It’s just another cool space to find cool music related stuff."
Ash Avenue Comics owner Drew Sullivan said the decision to include his store in the collective had to do with a lot of the other businesses included, as well as the business opportunity.
“I have a lot of respect for a lot of the other businesses involved, and it sounded like it would create a pretty unique space,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to have, obviously, comic books, art collections, small press comics, and books — kind of a lot of stuff that’s oriented around mainstream comics.”
Sullivan said the front door of the collective would feature the names of all the businesses involved and that he hoped the sampling of comics would bring in customers to the main location.
The Double Nickels Collective will be open Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
Reach the reporter at cncalde1@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @katie_calderon
