As some longstanding record stores close, new takes on selling music are popping up.
Take, for example, Tiger Rose Vintage and Vinyl in Carson City. The store offers both records and revived fashion, with an emphasis on alternatives to typical retail-store fare. Currently open from noon to 8 p.m. each Saturday, the shop is continuing to grow its presence since opening in May.
“I started collecting records over 30 years ago, when they were a lot less expensive than they are now,” said Jim Bowers, co-owner of Tiger Rose, during a recent phone interview. “I had a record label for a little over a decade as well, and we put out records for bands like French Kicks and Poster Children, and for friends of ours and things like that. I grew up in Carson City, and I started collecting here in Carson City when we used to have two record stores in town. There was JJ’s Ear Candy and another one when I started that was called Budget Records and Tapes. I just started my collection, and over time, it grew so large that it became a real pain to move. I lived down in Los Angeles for about almost 20 years, and kept on collecting while I was down there. I ended up selling around 900 records when I moved back to Carson City, which covered all the closing costs on the house I bought up here.”
Collecting vinyl can be a user-friendly hobby, with a lot of records costing just a few bucks.
“You can collect them, sometimes $5 or $10 at a time, and they do tend to go up in value, but not always,” Bowers said. “… I always bought them just because I have always loved all kinds of music so much. I used to be a repeat customer of Recycled Records there in Reno for a long time in the ’90s, before I moved away, and had made some legendary purchases there that I still own.”
While Bowers handles the vinyl at Tiger Rose, co-owner Sara Turner is in charge of the vintage-clothing side.
“My partner Sara, she used to run a vintage pop-up shop down in Los Angeles at the swap meet at Fairfax and Melrose, and another one that happened at the airport in Santa Monica,” Bowers said. “She would go on the weekends and pitch a tent out there and sell vintage clothing. When she moved up here, about a year after I did, we had so much stuff in storage, so we just were like, ‘Let’s consolidate our storage.’ We ended up finding a retail space that was less expensive than what we were paying for our three storage places—and the next thing you knew, we were just like, ‘Well, let’s just open a store then.’”
Bowers found that his life gradually propelled him from vinyl fan to vinyl seller.
“Through having a record label in the past, and through being in other parts of the music business over the years, I just wound up connected to a bunch of people who worked at the distributors and things like that,” Bowers said.
Bowers wanted his shop to offer a lot more than one can find in the limited selections at major retailers.
“JJ’s Ear Candy here in Carson City closed in September of 2005, which is right around when I was moving to L.A.,” Bowers said. “I was already in California at that time, and when I came back to town a couple years ago, I came home to realize there were no music stores that sold new releases in Carson City, except for Walmart. If you’re looking for the new Taylor Swift record, you can get it at Walmart, but if you’re looking for much else, it’s pretty tough.”
Swifties, fret not: Tiger Rose does carry Taylor Swift—and in fact, two of the store’s first 20 sales were Taylor Swift records.
“So far, we’ve just been inviting friends and family down and starting to put the word out,” Bowers said. “We’ve had a few customers come in every Saturday, and we’ve probably only sold about 50 records or so, so far.”
Tiger Rose is helping Bowers celebrate his life-long love for vinyl.
“I love Spotify and things like that for being able to hear about something from a friend and just being able to check it out instantaneously, so the instant gratification part is nice, and it’s fun on there to make playlists and stuff, but I have always preferred the more tactile experience that you get with vinyl records—and also being able to find things that haven’t been released digitally, that sometimes are really amazing,” Bowers said. “Also, even just on the subject of cover art, there are sometimes when you see things you normally wouldn’t have even been interested in, but you see an amazing cover, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I have to hear that.’”
Bowers prides himself in the fact that the shop carries both music by local bands and new releases that you can’t find at Walmart.
“Our shop is the only place in Carson City where you can buy new releases, especially if you’re looking for something that’s on a larger indie label, like Sub Pop or something like that,” Bowers said. “We do a really good job of making sure that we’ve got at least one copy of all the new stuff that’s coming out. Also, where we’re located is kind of a cool little spot … The Carson Antiques and Collectibles Mall is right across the street from us, and there are more used records in there, and there are a couple other spots, like little antique shops and stuff right within walking distance of our shop. You actually could hit four or five different places by parking your car in one spot.”
Bowers expressed pride in the fact that Tiger Rose is filling a void in Carson City.
“Silver Dollar Records (which closed last year in Dayton) was 17 miles away from where we are, and the next closest place is Recycled (Records in Reno), which is about 35 miles,” Bowers said. “I liked being a kid in this town and being able to ride my bike around and go to the JJ’s Ear Candy, or wherever it was, and check out what was coming out—so we wanted to put that back into town. We just wanted there to be a place where people could pick up new releases in Carson City. It’s easy enough in the summertime to drive up and go to Recycled or something, but when the weather hits in the wintertime, it’s not always that easy. We wanted to bring that back into town. It’s been gone for almost 20 years.”
Tiger Rose Vintage and Vinyl is located at 1802 N. Carson St., No. 122, in Carson City. The store is open from noon to 8 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, or to make an appoint to visit the shop, call 775-297-3172, or visit www.tigerrosevintage.com.