5 hours Ago
Castle Sounds, located in Christchurch, is Trader of the Week. Selling CD's, vinyl and records, the store is located in Castle Street, Christchurch. Alan has had the store for around 12 years now, after starting the business around 14 years ago.
He said that he started the business as a hobby as he had a passion for music. He said: "It was just a hobby, I opened it as something to do. "It's a labour of love.
" However the business started to take off and Alan realised that 'this is serious', which lead to him opening his store in Christchurch. Alan said that it is a 'luxury' to be able to have the store, as he describes the businesses as 'a niche'. Alan said that Christchurch has a 'very old demographic' and that he sees a lot of customers buying records of music tracks they used to listen to when they were younger.
However, Alan said that there has been a slight increase in younger people buying records. He said: "It's great to see a young audience." Castle Sounds stock multiple different genres, as they didn't want to solely hold and sell 'mainstream' music.
Alan said that they want to be seen as an 'ultimate record shop', which provides something for every music taste. He said: "We try to cater for everyone and we have a lot of specialist genres." Alan added that he opened and ran a store in Bournemouth town centre for a few years, but said that it was a 'learning curve', so now they only have the Christchurch store.
Alan's son Harry helps out his dad at the store when he's home from university. Alongside the help from his son, Alan added that there are multiple others who work at the shop. He said that they 'all know their music' and have a passion for it.
He said: "They do it for the love of it." On the first Thursday of every month Castle Sounds holds a 'vinyl club'. This takes place across three hours and Alan says it's a chance to 'have a few drinks and listen to an evening of classic vinyl from all genres'.
Vinyl Club takes place at the Snug in Church Street at 7pm..
