We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ray Wilson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ray below.

Ray, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is simple, create a record store that mirrors the record stores of the 70s and 80s. We just want to bring back the vibe of those simpler times. It was one of my favorite things to do as a kid – hang out at the record stores and pick up amazing music on vinyl, cassettes and CDs. I wanted to recreate that for music lovers today.

Ray, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Amarillo’s funky little record store began with a passion for vinyl, a farm house basement full of vinyl and a favorite book/movie. In 2017 approximately 50,000 vinyl records were discovered in the basement of a small farmhouse north of Sunray Texas. After an entire day of moving the boxes and crates upstairs into two large U-Haul trailers and a long night of unloading them into a third floor storage building, the process of sorting through them and stocking a newly aquired antique store booth began. The store name was inspired by the book by Nick Hornby and ultimately the movie by the same name starring John Cusack, the booth/store opened for business. Since its humble beginnings, the store has moved into its own space on Route 66 and become a high vibe destination for music lovers all across the country and even worldwide.

With thousands of new and used vinyl records in stock from every genre imaginable, High Fidelity Records is a store where people rarely leave empty handed and definitely with a smile on their face.

Even though vinyl records are the number one focus, customers can find everything from CDs and cassettes to posters, stickers, t-shirts and vinyl cleaning/storage accessories.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The biggest pivot I ever made in business was selling the IT company I founded and ran for 13 years and opening up my record store. The world of computers and IT is night and day different from retail and especially music retail. The main difference is that my record store is virtually stress free, fun and my customers and employees are high vibe and so happy to be here enjoying the store.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

High Fidelity Records started as a side hustle with a booth inside the historic Nat Ballroom here on route 66. After selling my IT company it became my number one source of income.

On a cold Texas Panhandle day I received a phone call from a business just down the street that a space had opened up. I asked the universe for a sign and within the next few days received a letter stating that The Nat could possibly close and so I felt that was my sign to get my own place and expand.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.funkylittlerecordstore.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/highfidelityvinyl

Image Credits
Scout Picture Co Kelsey Peeples Photo