New shop brings vinyl to the 'Burg

It took a while for Nick Mich to find just the right spot for his record store in Gettysburg, but now that it’s a reality, he’s excited to see what’s next.

Nick and his father, Bill, have owned Sweet Repeat Records in New Hope, Pa., for eight years. Following the success of that store, Mich decided to pair his business aspirations with his desire to move to Gettysburg.

“I’ve always been a fan of the history, always loved the town,” he said. “I realized there wasn’t a record store in town. I came up with the idea … to open a second shop and fill that record store void.”

Nick’s love for music started young, when his father used to play musicians like Styx and Bob Seeger while working in the garage. Nick’s interest in vinyl grew as he got older and when the pair opened Sweet Repeat first as a thrift shop in 2014, he focused on finding records to sell in the store. Over the years, “everything kept getting pushed off to the side and vinyl took over.

Sweet Repeat Records finds its inventory through “a little bit of everything,” Nick said. Sometimes they go picking at yard sales and auctions; other times people will call the store saying they have a collection they want to get rid of.

“I’ll buy anything. There’s always anybody looking for some type of music,” he explained. The most popular genre that sells is classic rock, and acts like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Grateful Dead are always hot ticket items.

The store’s prices per album start at one dollar and go up from there, depending on the artist, condition of the record, rarity of the album printing and demand. (Ask Nick about a little-known rare printing of a Beatles album that’s worth a pretty penny.) More expensive items, usually those priced at $80 or above, are listed solely online.

So far Nick’s business “has been really solid,” he said. “I was hopeful it was going to be good, so far it’s really been fantastic.”

Most of his clientele are local residents and college students, he added.

A resurgence of interest in vinyl records over the past decade or so, as a response to ubiquitous digital streaming services, plays a part in customers finding their way to shops like Sweet Repeat Records. Nick credits that to the experience of listening to a physical album on a turntable.

“I think it’s a nostalgia thing. To sit down and put on a record, it takes a minute. You can read the liner notes. It takes you out of everything else.”

He hopes to continue the success Sweet Repeat Records has seen over the past eight years with its new store in Gettysburg. If his grand opening is any indication, the shop is right on track. It was the best day in sales in the business’s history.

“There was never a point on that first day where there wasn’t someone in checking out records,” Nick said. “Having a new venture I was a little nervous, but it definitely started off with a bang.”

Find out more about Sweet Repeat Records at their Facebook page or follow them on Instagram @sweetrepeatrecords_gettysburg.