Record year for record sales for Bluestreak in Peterborough, Ont.

For more than 30 years, Bluestreak Records has been a musical staple in Peterborough, Ont. The vinyl shop houses tens of thousands of records, CDs and even cassette tapes.

“I just love music so much,” said owner Tim Haines. “Second to live music, listening to records or CDs is fantastic. There is music for every moment or from every time in your life.”

Haines said that includes navigating a pandemic and even with retail shutdowns, he has seen an increase in sales.

“I’ve had my busiest year ever, even with all of those times shut down I still had an excellent year,” he said. “I think it is because everyone was staying at home and cooking and wanted to listen to records while they were cooking.”

He said he has also seen an increase in vinyl popularity in the past five years.

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“They do sound great,” said Haines. “Maybe there is just something about a little less of everything all of the time, you can just choose a side of a record and listen to that.”

Recently Haines moved to a larger storefront in Peterborough’s downtown, located at 394 George St. N., making more room for the music and customers. He said he is hoping to continue to share that “record store experience” with the public.

“For me, you go to record stores to buy records,” he said. “I know there are so many other ways to buy them nowadays, but in person you might meet someone you wouldn’t have met and find records you wouldn’t have found.”

He said he has everything from jazz to rock to hip-hop in store and that there really is something for everyone to discover.

“Peterborough has been great to me during the ongoing pandemic and for that I am grateful. I have customers that have been here from day one and I still see them.”