Ian Wallace - A true music man and legend of Scottish record retailing.

 

Big Sparra Vinyl

 

7 New Bridge Street, Ayr, Ayrshire KA7JX

01292 737520

bigsparravinyl@gmail.com; @bigsparravinyl

Monday-Saturday 10am-5.30pm

Established 2010

Stock: Vinyl, CD, Pre-owned, Cassettes, Tickets, T-shirts, Turntables

 


Owners Robert McKain and Ian Wallace describe Big Sparra Vinyl as a little store with a big heart. Originally, they rented space within a studio in Glasgow, before moving to Ayr, again renting space, this time within the local post office. This unusual arrangement worked surprisingly well. Vinyl fans in Ayr were delighted to have a retail outlet for the format, even if it was in a post office. It was not long before Big Sparra had four shelves to display their wares, but demand soon outstripped display space and the duo rented a shop with a beautiful view over the harbour.

 


Since then Big Sparra Vinyl has thrived. Record Store Day is a good barometer of the improvement.  When they opened the door on RSD 2015, the first year that they participated, the queue consisted of four people. In 2016, the queue was up to 14, and in 2017, 140 people were waiting outside. By 2018, the queue was too big to count.

 Robert and Ian are committed to the local community, championing unsigned local bands whose records they sell without taking a cut.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is it like working at HMV?

Image
I was so desperate to leave the food factory that, when they offered voluntary redundancy, I was in the personnel department before you could blink. After depositing my redundancy cheque in the bank I thought I would take a trip down to the local job-centre to see what else the world had to offer. After looking through endless requests for cleaners or dead-end jobs like the one I had just left, something stood out like a diamond in a bag of nutty slack. Amongst all the dross was a job that was perfect for me – HMV, the UK’s top record retailer, was looking for a sales assistant in their Liverpool branch. “Wow!” I thought. “What an opportunity!” I was determined to show them that I was the perfect candidate and promptly hurried home to write my CV, something I had never needed in my previous job. I also completed and sent off my application form. A few days later, a letter from HMV landed on my doormat inviting me for an interview. I did as much rese
Read more

Happy 100th Birthday HMV

Image
   GENUINE THINGS PEOPLE HAVE ASKED FOR HAVE YOU GOT? •    No mule you fool – Elkie Brookes – No more the Fool •    Buddy Holly sings the Beatles •    Andy Roo – Andre Rieu •    The Arctic Gorillaz •    The Edison Lighthouse Family •    Barclay James Harvester •    The one sung by the pretty blonde and the guy who jumps about •    The Loneliest Monk – Thelonious Monk •    Coldplay – Parrott Eyes •    My son asked me to pick up the new Limp Wristed CD.   The managerat the Brighton branch of HMV he always encouraged the staff to think for themselves and to put into action anything they thought that would help increase sales.   One busy afternoon he noticed that the Van Morrison section was empty.   Thinking somebody had stolen the whole section he checked with the security staff and quizzed them if they had seen anything.   Nobody had so he started asking the staff.    One young female assistant when asked replied “Don’t worry  they haven’t been nicked I just thought he would sell
Read more

Great Record Shops of Essex

Image
Essex The county  has gone through a transition, with long-established stores such as Adrians and Fives reducing their outlets to just a single shop. Slipped Discs is also down to one shop but now incorporates an excellent caf é . Colchester is in need of an independent record shop selling new vinyl. >>>>>>>>>>>  Adrians 36-28 High Street, Wickford, Essex SS12 9AZ 01268 73 3318 adriansrecords.co.uk ; sales@adrians.co.uk ; @AdriansRecords Monday-Saturday 9am-5.30pm Sunday 10am-4.30pm Established 1969 Stock : Vinyl, CD, Pre-owned, Memorabilia, In-stores Anyone who bought the NME throughout the 1970s and 1980s will be aware of Adrian Rondeau’s shops in Wickford. For twenty years, they had an eye-catching advert highlighting the latest releases. "If you can't get it at Adrians, you can't get it anywhere" is the shop’s motto. At one-point Adrian had four shops, but after years of decline
Read more