Sheffield's latest record shop, with cinema, brings back unique retro memories to much-loved shopping street
How record shop brings back memories of vinyl golden age
It’s the latest boost for Chapel Walk - and it brings back great memories for Sheffield music fans.
Record shop Memory Dance has opened its doors on the narrow pedestrianised alley which runs from Fargate to Norfolk Street, coming out close to the Crucible Theatre.
And it will bring back special memories to legions of residents who miss some of the city’s great record shops that is has lost over the years.
As well as its wide range of vinyl on offer, the new shop, run by professional archivist Alex Wilson, is decorated with poignant reminders of some of the city’s great music shops of the past.
One wall bears the old style record sleeves which shops once used for the discs that they sold, from old shops such as George Hudson and MJ Thomas.
And opposite, another wall carries the old carrier bags and paper bags which customers would take their vinyl home in after they had bought records from more recent city venues like Roulette Records, Bradley’s and Impulse.
There will be more nostalgia downstairs, where a small cinema shows films of old Sheffield.
On opening day, it showed old super-eight style pictures from the 60 dating back to the 1960s.
But a special show in the coming weeks will show archive footage from Sheffield Cable Vision, a community television station which was broadcast in the mid 1970s, as a fourth TV channel in the days before Channel Four existed.
Mr Wilson sees the new shop as the distillation of what he has done for the last 20 years, which has included working in record shops, and his time working as an archivist in areas including music and video, advising museums and galleries, as well as working as an archives researcher for films.
There are second hand records, a section on Sheffield artists, as well as tapes and CDs. There is also a gallery space as well as the cinema.
He explained the bags and record sleeves were part of a display put together by collector Simon Robinson, which had previously been used in an exhibition on The Moor in 2011.
Alex now wants to work with other businesses on Chapel Walk, to help make sure that the street thrives.
He said: “This will change over time, but with Juno Books, and Gut Level, we’ll be doing collaborative things. We may have a party at Gut Level, with ourselves and Juno, and late night openings across all three businesses There’s more to be announced.”
He feels Chapel Walk is very much on its feet. He said: “I think if you speak to successful businesses down here, it is on its feet already.”
He says he thinks shops like his give positivity and get a bit of footfall through the area.
He said he would like to collaborate not just with Gut Level and Juno, but all the businesses along the street to make it look really inviting.
He added: “You only have to look at Leah’s Yard, up the road - we could create something similar to Leah’s Yard here.
“Hopefully the council will help us out and bring it up and make it something to be proud of.”