Record Collector

Record Collector has served Iowa City since 1982, and Alissa and Bobby describe a small shop shaped by college-town listening habits, changing formats, and decades of local music culture. The store buys by appointment, avoids 78 rpm/shellac, and keeps a broad mix because it is now the only record store in town.

Interview

Record Collector has been Iowa City vinyl seller since 1982. How has the shop stayed itself through all those years, Alissa?

I think the intimate and eclectic vibe has been maintained in Record Collector throughout the years, even though it has had 2 different owners and has been in a variety of locations. There have always been avid and casual music fans that have felt comfortable browsing through the racks in the shop and listening to what's playing on the overhead. We like to think that there is still a community of music lovers in our shop - staff and customers alike - that make it feel enough similar to when Kirk Walther started the shop in 1982. The shorter version is something like "knowledge, keeping an open mind, luck, & sheer stubbornness."

An in-store performance at Record Collector, showing the community feel Alissa describes as part of the shop's long Iowa City identity.

You ask sellers to email or call for an appointment so you don't have too many coming in at once. How does that keep the buying side manageable?

Realistically, it's our small retail/office space and small set of employees that makes it difficult for us to go through too many items all at once. We don't have the space to keep collections separate from each other if they are coming in simultaneously. On top of that, we don't love setting up buying appointments on days that we are more likely to get new releases and restocks coming in from our distributors because of limited staffing. Requiring appointments also makes it easier for us to talk to the seller before they bring items in - sometimes it's not worth their time based on the titles they have - and we don't want to waste anyone's time. Plus there seems to be a weird hive mind effect that tells everyone to bring their stuff all at once and we need to find ways to avoid that.

A low view across Record Collector's packed bins, a useful visual for the small-floor-space buying process described in the answer.

You buy across genres but skip 78s and shellac. How did that buying focus take shape?

In the past, Record Collector has gone through different iterations in terms of what we've bought or focused on in store - especially when there were multiple record & CD stores in Iowa City and each store could have more of a genre or format niche. However, the original owner Kirk Walther was an early adopter of selling used CDs and had always consistently sold LPs, even when they weren't as fashionable in the 1990s/early 2000s. We have continued to sell CDs and small amounts of cassette tapes even as vinyl popularity has increased again - we see that interest ebbs and flows in different formats and we like to keep a variety in stock. Now that we are the only record store in town, we also feel the need to keep a variety of genres, despite our small floor space.

In regards to 78s/shellac, there is a minimal market for those items and we are not all that far from Vintage Music Company in Minneapolis - so if sellers or buyers are especially interested we can recommend them. Also, new buyers frequently don't understand the differences in 33/45/78 and we don't want to carry music that might be unplayable to college kids (our market) - since 78s require specialized equipment to play it can lead to some confusion.

Iowa City is a college town with a strong music history. What do your customers reach for most?

A huge portion of our clientele are UI students and therefore popular college music - whether it be indie rock, contemporary country, or modern hip hop - are our most frequently sold. Students also buy a ton of reissues of "bread-and-butter" classics from throughout the eras, too, so it is valuable for us to carry a lot of new and sealed records in the store. Iowa City has a lot of great music festivals (like the Jazz Fest, the Iowa City Songwriters Festival, FMWT Feast) and venues (Gabe's, Trumpet Blossom, Englert, Hancher & Voxman) - so music coming through those settings also inspires interest in different types of music in the store for people throughout the community.

What comes through in local collections that still surprises you after four decades?

Being a college town means that we see some surprising international gems come through, for one. Iowa isn't exactly a mecca of rare records - but a variety of types of people in our direct community means that variety of genres come through when we look through collections. It's always fun to be surprised by the disconnect between expectation and reality, too - when someone in their 70s has an immaculate stoner metal collection, for example. Do we still look at a lot of classic 70s rock LPs and low value country 45s from the Midwest? Certainly! But it's nice to be surprised, sometimes.

What's been quietly strong in the bins lately?

In terms of used items, we've had a nice metal collection, an 80s alternative collection, and 70s/80s jazz collection come through. It's nice to see those genres beefed up a little in the shop. We know our customers want more used LPs than we can keep in stock - so quality collections like those are incredibly helpful. We've also recently started carrying new CDs again because used CD collections are coming through less and less frequently - those have been popular with our younger customers, especially - although we sell them to many age groups.

What condition issues do you see most in Iowa collections?

Mold & mildew are regular issues that rear their heads in collections that have been stored long term. We tend to have very humid summers with all the agriculture, corn sweat and rain that the state of Iowa gets, plus people tend to store their old record collections in damp basements or humid attic spaces and that tends to be a bit of trouble! Dehumidifiers are a savior folks!

First visit to Record Collector - what should someone dig through first?

That depends on what they're passionate about -- but we like to think that we have a good used recent arrivals section, good staff picks & regularly refreshed used seven inch section. Iowa City, an old college town that's had a good punk and experimental scene for decades and decades, tends to get reflected in our store I'd say. For that reason, the local section is worth a look - there are a lot of talented people creating music in the area, too!

A recent-arrivals display at Record Collector, tying into the recommendation to start with refreshed sections and local Iowa City finds.

Last updated: 2026-07-28