The secondhand vinyl record market in Canberra has taken a bizarre twist, with almost all of the main stores closing down at the same time.

While cost-of-living is an overarching issue, storeowners gave various reasons for shutting shop, some completely while others seek to embrace different business models.

Interestingly, the new vinyl market remains relatively strong, as the long queues outside Landspeed on the recent Record Store Day can attest.

Landspeed in Garema Place, Civic, continues as Canberra’s premier record shop, with Songland on the southside in Cooleman Court, Weston, also popular with record-buyers.

Both stores dabble in secondhand records, but it’s the new release and reissues on vinyl that are attracting most buyers.

So what’s going on with the secondhand market?

Phil Place from Dynomite Records in Kambah used Record Store Day (12 April) as his last hurrah from the shop.

Dynomite is actually a success story, having been in the same location for 12 years – the naysayers only gave him three months when he first opened.

His is the longest surviving secondhand record store in Canberra.

But the times they are a-changin’ and what was a heavily stocked shop known for its multi-coloured walls is now empty, the walls having been whitewashed over before keys were handed back to the landlord.

“It was a passion that developed into a job,” Mr Place told Region.

“When I opened, I was really the only secondhand vinyl store in Canberra and it stayed that way for a long time.

“Then others started opening and it just so happens that we’re all closing at the same time.

“My landlady was solid gold. She really was. But it’s hard to keep up the rent when people aren’t coming into the store like they used to.

“I made a profit every year, but last year was the hardest.

“The reality is the economy is in the toilet and people have got no money. They’re spending it on boring things like mortgages and food.”

Mr Place says sourcing stock has also become a tougher job, which has changed the market dramatically.

How secondhand dealers operate best is to buy records in bulk from people cleaning up their garages or sorting out estates.

But as the vinyl revival boomed, more people are either selling their collection records directly online or asking for retail-like prices from the store owners, which isn’t sustainable.

“I used to drown in records coming into the shop,” Mr Place said.

“When I first opened in Canberra, I nearly got crushed in the rush. People would bring in crates full of Jimi Hendrix records and the like just wanting to get rid of them.

“Now even old grandmas think they’re sitting on goldmines with their records – and they’re usually not.”

It’s the end of an era and Dynomite Records will be going purely online, with still thousands of records to be posted on sites like Discogs.

Shane Stark, from Johnny the Fox in Fyshwick, closed before the Easter weekend began.

He had five years trading as a well-patronised pop-up store inside Dirty Janes vintage warehouse.

“I have had a blast getting to know customers old and new, and will miss having my little shop inside the coolest vintage shop in town,” he posted on his Facebook page.

He told Region, however, that while retail has had a downturn over the past couple of years, the record market was still “pretty consistent”.

“I want to move closer to family up the NSW coast and will get back to where I started, selling records at markets, record fairs, festivals and online,” Mr Stark said.

“But I’ve had records stolen too which, for a small operator like me, makes it hard to keep a shop open.

“Unfortunately, I’ve seen the theft as a sign that it’s time for a change.

“Dirty Janes is a good business model and I have nothing but great things to say about them. But record theft is on the rise in Canberra and, despite all of our best efforts to stop it, things will get stolen and I can’t factor that into my operation costs.

“I’m really not sure what the future holds. I might be open to opening another shop sometime, somewhere in the future.”

Tom Stockman opened RARE Records in Kingston’s Cusack Centre almost two years ago, after relocating the business from Bungendore (which had closed in 2020).

His last day in the Kingston shop is 31 May and he’s having a huge markdown sale until then. But after that, its doors shut, with the possibility of opening online sometime in the future.

“For me, it’s a combination of the centre here having been sold and it’s end-of-lease time for me,” Mr Stockman told Region.

“Business has been okay, but the cost of living has definitely had an effect.

“Since word’s gone out that I’m closing though, there’s been a rush for bargains.”

That leaves Canberra Vintage and Collectibles in Fyshwick that has, among other things, a decent offering of secondhand records, and a few other tiny outlets where vinyl is almost an afterthought.