IT’S the end of an era – or rather a decade – for indie record shop, Vintage Trax after its owner, Ros Sidaway, reluctantly announced the closure of the shop.
It’s fair to say that 2023 has been a challenging year for the business, just off Church Green East in the town centre.
The ongoing cost of living crisis and the overall state of affairs in the town have negatively impacted both footfall and customer spend, with income not covering the overheads for the past few months.
In addition, a bad fall at the end of May kept Ros away from the shop for five months and her husband, David, had to step in and keep things ticking over with her sister, Teresa, who has worked with Ros since Vintage Trax began trading back in 2013.
“I had hoped that, with Christmas fast approaching, trade would have begun to pick up but with just over four weeks to go there is no sign of that happening,” said Ros.
“So, it’s with a heavy heart that I have had to take the hard decision to close down the shop early in the New Year.”
A final date for the shop’s closure has yet to be set but at the very latest it will be the end of the first week of February 2024.
Ros intends to keep the Vintage Trax brand alive through pop ups, record fairs and music and local community events.
In the meantime, a closing down sale has begun with half price offers on quality preloved vinyl records, plus further discounts of music gifts and merchandise.
Keep up to date, visit the Vintage Trax Facebook page, @vintagetrax_redditch on Instagram, @VintageTrax on X (formerly Twitter) or the website www.VintageTrax.co.uk
