Amersham's Record Shop owner on supporting local businesses

Graeme Campbell, 67, has been the proprietor of The Record Shop in the town since its formation in 2005, and during his near two-decade stint in running the shop, he has moved on three occasions, battled a recession and a global pandemic.

Graeme Campbell, 67, launched the business nearly 20 years ago (Image: NQ) With many independents closing up and down the land, the Hill Avenue store remains standing and whilst he admitted that ‘every day is a challenge’, it is one that he ‘loves’, as he has no plans of retiring.

Mr Campbell, who has been in the record-selling business for nearly 50 years, told the Free Press: “When I started in 2005, I think, from memory, we were in a recession, and I thought we were at the bottom of that recession.

Numerous items are up for sale (Image: NQ) “Normally when that happens, you move up quite rapidly to a boom-or-bust sort of thing, but we have coasted along the bottom of this ‘recession’ and it did at a point look precarious, but I never wanted to throw the towel in.

“I knew there would be a time when things would lift, and it did with the return of vinyl.

“That came back with a bang, and it has been growing ever since which has been our saving grace.

“I have been involved in selling records for 48 years in the Amersham area and I love what I do.

“I just take every day as it comes, and I don’t fancy retiring just yet even though I think I should think about it.

“Every day is a challenge but I love doing what I do.”

The shop is along Hill Avenue in Amersham (Image: NQ)

Since opening nearly 20 years ago, many music enthusiasts have made their way to Amersham to see what the shop has in store.

Customers have come far and wide to see Mr Campbell’s collection of vinyl, with people trekking from Chesham, Aylesbury, Marlow and London to name a few.

Some of his records include several rare collectibles with some going for four-figure sums.

He added: “This is a second-hand market for collectors and a second-hand record shop will have different stock to somewhere like HMV, so people in a way will ‘do the rounds’ to see what they can find.

“That’s record collectors for you, they will also try and find something.

“We had a classical record which was valued at £3,000, another classical record which was worth £2,000 and the other day, I had a David Bowie single from 1966 get sold for £1,000 – he got a bargain as I did have it priced up for £1,500.

“We do have a few goodies knocking about.”

Finally, Mr Campbell has urged those in Amersham and in the surrounding areas to come and visit his business.

At the time of writing, The Record Shop boasts an average score of 4.7/5 from 153 Google Reviews.

He concluded: “I know there are a few shops that are thinking about closing as their landlords are thinking about racking up the prices, but we’re on good terms and that helps us get through.

“It’s so important but sometimes, people don’t even know what is in Amersham.

“We’ve had people come in and say ‘I never knew you were here’, but we’ve been here for nearly 20 years.

“We need support from local people to come in.”