Republic of Athens Records

SPIN THAT RECORD: ROAR HAS ARRIVED IN ATHENS

BY HANNAH CAMPBELL PHOTOS BY ZOE CRANFILL

The trend of vinyl records has been circulating for a few years now and has officially come to Athens. Whether someone likes the oldies or today’s top hits, Republic of Athens Records, or ROAR, has something for them.

The record shop officially opened in November 2021 and resides at 79 ½ E. State St. It initially started as a pop-up shop in Little Professor Book Center, 65 S. Court St., in July 2021. However, the store received so much positive feedback the owner, Michael Wood, opened a permanent location.

Jonah Silverman, a sophomore studying music production and recording industry, currently works for ROAR as an intern. Collecting records since middle school, he found himself frequently shopping at the ROAR pop-up shop before working at the new location.

Silverman said he has always wanted to work at a record store and was happy to hear ROAR was hiring.

“It’s something that I was always

“It’s something that I was always interested in,”

SILVERMAN

interested in,” Silverman said. “It relates to my major, and it’s something that’s on a smaller scale.”

Silverman’s duties at the shop include updating inventory on the store’s website, taking invoices for new shipments, packaging and shipping orders, and working the front desk.

“Michael does a really good job of making sure I’m learning all of the facets to run the store,” Silverman said.

Madeline Shearer, a sophomore studying psychology, has been collecting records since she was around 14 years old. She initially heard about the record store through Instagram and visited

the day after its grand opening.

“It was really cool,” Shearer said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of places in Athens that sell vinyls and I really, really like the variety that they had.” “I don’t think there’s a lot of places in Athens that sell vinyls and I really, really like the variety that they had.”

SHEARER

What especially caught Shearer’s eye was a display of different record players and turntables, both new and vintage, set up in the store.

“I think they really used the space that they had,” Shearer said. “It’s a pretty small shop, but I think they had everything set up really nicely, so everything was kind of easy to get to.”

Because there are not many record stores around the area, Shearer was especially excited to see ROAR’s new space and have the in-person experience of picking out records.

“I know that this is a liberal arts college, and I know for fact there [are] so many people that collect vinyls, especially around here,” Shearer said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for people to find vinyls local, rather than having to travel to get them.”

Silverman said even though customers can order records online, having an authentic record store in Athens has gained so much support from

the community and is a wonderful experience for shoppers.

“People way prefer finding a record they like in a store rather than ordering it,” Silverman said. “It makes you feel like you earned it.”

Sidney “Sid” Stephens, a junior studying linguistics, also works at ROAR as a clerk. Her duties include cleaning and pricing collected records, updating inventory to the website, and displaying products in the store.

Stephens said a store interaction between customers, such as listening to someone “obsess” over a certain artist or genre, is an unparalleled experience than ordering a record online.

“The whole experience is just really precious,” Stephens said. “So I feel that [connection] happens a lot with various customers of all demographics and age groups. It’s really nice seeing the younger people are so into it.”

In addition to selling many different types of records, the store was also selected as a participant in Record Store Day on April 23. ROAR, along with other stores across the country, will sell exclusive releases from artists such as Taylor Swift.

Stephens said the store is still in the early stages of “figuring out its identity,” but encourages people to look out for more events and specials coming up.

“We have new ideas every week,” Stephens said. “We’re just super excited. It might be a really small shop, but the circulation is so frequent that every time you come in, there’s gonna be something new.”

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