‘I shall miss it’: Record shop to close after nearly 30 years

The doors to a town record store will shut for the first time in nearly three decades as its owner prepares for a new chapter.

Tony Winfield has run The Record Shop at St James Street in Lynn since 1996, and has been selling albums on and off since the 1960s.

Now, having reached the age of 70, he is planning to launch a clearing sale within the next fortnight – and the store will close at some point in the near future.

The closure will be a “gradual thing”, and Tony hopes whoever takes on the building can keep the premises going with a similar business.

“I’ve got other things I want to do, and if I don’t do them now, you never know how much time you’ve got left when you’re 70-years-old,” he said.

“I shall miss it when I go, I know I will. I missed it in lockdowns.

“The customers are great. They stand around chatting, laughing, drinking coffee, talking music. It’s fantastic.

“I struggle to do some of the physical side of it now. It’s certainly time to consider doing something else.”

Tony spent much of his life in retail, working for the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Halfords before he got “fed up” of working for other people.

He also served as a DJ at one stage, and music has always played a big role in his life.

“My cousins, who were a few years older than us, got one of these new electric record players,” he said.

“The first two records I heard were Rock Around the Clock (by Bill Haley and His Comets) and Heartbreak Hotel (by Elvis Presley), and from then on it was records and music.”

Over the years, Tony has always sourced his own vinyls to sell on – whether it be at car boot sales in the UK, or at stalls during his frequent trips to the Netherlands.

He knew he would struggle to compete with larger companies, such as HMV in recent years, and has had to come up with creative ways to build his customer base.

“I’m just winding down now,” he added.