Alien Records

Alien Records is an Over-the-Rhine shop in Cincinnati with a visually distinctive space, events, and a focus on community. The interview discusses its LGBTQ+ community role, collection buying, and the shop as a third space for music lovers.

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Interview with Alien Records

"Alien Records" and a location in Over-the-Rhine — one of the most distinctive neighborhoods in Cincinnati. What's the origin story behind the name, and what made OTR specifically the right place for the shop?

OTR Stands for Over-The-Rhine Technically the 'Rhine' or 'river' was Central Parkway. Central Parkway was a man-made river where the workers in the 1800's would float their goods from the OTR to The Ohio River. OTR is North of downtown, The Ohio River is immediately South of downtown. Currently, OTR has been turned into a restaurant and shopping area. There were no other record stores in OTR and there is alot of foot traffic.

OTR has become one of the most active cultural neighborhoods in the Midwest — food, art, venues, and a walking-friendly street life that Cincinnati as a whole doesn't otherwise offer. What role does Alien play in OTR specifically, and who's coming through your door?

Alien has become a LGBTQ+ place to be due to our parties that we throw about once a month in the store as well as being 1 of only 7 owned and operated gay record stores in the country.

Cincinnati has a serious record scene — Shake It, Torn Light, Everybody's, and a handful of others — spread across the city. What's Alien doing that the rest of that scene isn't, and who's the customer walking through your door specifically for you?

We host special events in the after hours, not just for the LQBTQ+ community but for other events like BLINK as well as having a very visually unique looking store. We have tons of plants (not really for sale), vintage posters for decorations and awesome alien lights in the evening when we are closed. (they're green)

When someone walks in with a box of records to sell, what makes a collection an easy yes for you in the first thirty seconds — the tell-tales you look for before you've even started pricing?

Lack of mold, or falling apart and the vinyl is in the correct sleeve. (In the correct sleeve is a good sign)

What does the buying process look like at Alien for a whole collection versus a handful of records — do you handle them differently, and when should someone call ahead first?

If you have more than 100, please call ahead. If you only have a few to bring in, they better be stand out albums. But I treat all vinyl the same when making an offer. I am pretty good at noticing if things are 'special' and if they need a deeper look online for reference.

The Ohio River valley has humid summers, cold winters, and a lot of basement collections. What condition damage do you see most in Cincinnati-area collections, and what would you tell a seller to do differently going forward?

If things are water damaged, warped, and really beat up. it's ok to throw them away. Just try and salvage some good ones. And PLEASE clean up your records if you truly want to SELL some vinyl that are beat-up. You'll get a better offer if you present your items nicely, clean and organized.

When you're pricing a mixed collection in front of a seller — some records worth a couple dollars, others worth much more — how do you walk them through the reasoning so they leave feeling the number was fair?

You NEVER separate each item with a $ amount for the customer. You ONLY give a bulk # and you can go from there. It's 1 offer and no dividing the item's up. I make offers, not negotiations.

Opening a record shop in OTR is a specific bet — a walkable, high-rent, high-visibility neighborhood in a city with an already-active vinyl scene. For someone thinking about opening a record shop in a neighborhood-anchor location like this, what did you learn early on that you wish someone had told you?

Well this neighborhood OTR currently did NOT have a record store and most unique small shop areas have 1 or so record stores, so OTR was of good location. Business is a roller-coaster. Sometimes you bank and have an unbelievable month, and then it gets slow. January and February can be frightening. We are ok now that we have a really active on-line store and we always host special events. I do think spaces like a record store are a great location for a '3rd space". Third space means we are a record store but are also a home for music lovers where people can congregate and celebrate music, like we did at our amazing 'Madonna Confessions II' release party. It was HUGE, and we have awesome take-away bags for guests at these events that make an impact. Because we care truly about our customers. We also want them to come back. "So here take some free stuff and COME back real soon!"

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Last updated: 2026-09-20

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