The House of Vinyl

The House of Vinyl is a downtown Pittsburgh record shop whose location brings together locals, office workers, visitors, and event crowds. The interview covers affordable in-store pricing, collection buying, and the memorabilia that sets the shop apart.

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Interview with The House of Vinyl

The House of Vinyl is right in downtown Pittsburgh on Smithfield — an unusual spot for a record shop these days, most have gone to the neighborhoods. What made downtown the right home for the shop, and how would you describe its identity to someone who's never been in?

Downtown Pittsburgh makes a good home for our record shop due to its proximity to the city’s sports stadiums, concert venues and restaurants. Since the pandemic we’ve seen many of the retail stores move out of town but as of the last two years we’ve seen more retail coming back. As a compliment to my father’s sports memorabilia business, I believe my store sits in a central location for locals and a walkable spot for Pittsburgh’s visitors.

Smithfield Street has its own character — the mix of old Pittsburgh downtown and what's built up around it. For someone visiting the shop, what else in the immediate blocks is worth their time?

Smithfield Street certainly has its own culture with many old buildings on the block. Our building was built in the 1800s. Right below my store is my father’s sports memorabilia shop, sports world specialties. He holds an inventory of over 10,000 items including sports cards, autographed items, game used equipment, vintage publications and more. Nextdoor to us is Yuriy’s Jewlry , a great place to shop for watches amongst many other jewelry options. The best Mexican cuisine is right across the street from us at Taco Guapo.

Downtown Pittsburgh has a very different daytime population from the neighborhoods — office workers, tourists, downtown residents. Who actually walks in and buys, and how has that shaped what you stock?

Our location and hours definitely cater to the daytime population downtown. We do a lot of buying throughout the week as customers know where we are and that they can bring us their items they want to sell. Throughout the day we do see regulars who work in the city and seek out our store on their lunch break. Again, foot traffic is very event driven; the more conventions, concerts, sports events, the more foot traffic we see.

Reviews specifically call out your pricing being better than what people find online. That's a real position to take — deliberately staying under Discogs comps. What's the thinking behind that, and how do you make the math work?

Our sales are mostly online to be totally transparent, but I do cut prices significantly for in store purchases. I do this intentionally to incentivize the in-store purchase and make walking out of the store with a stack of vinyl affordable. I want people buying vinyl and building collections without breaking the bank. The main reason I hear that people have paused or stopped collecting vinyl is affordability. I always remember when I was first building my collection in high school, that feeling of getting a good deal at my favorite shops and wanted to replicate that at my own store with my customers.

On the buying side: what genres are you actively hunting for right now, and what have you had to say no to more often?

We sell 60s-80s rock more than anything else. We have a lot in the store but could always use more. I am definitely looking to expand the jazz and blues offerings in the shop as we get a lot of requests for those genres. I recently bought a collection of over 1,000 Latin music records that have been a big hit. I don’t often say no to any genre when buying record collections unless the condition is poor. All the records in my shop are Excellent or better.

What quietly turns out to be worth more than sellers expect at The House of Vinyl? Something they'd almost throw in the free pile that you're always happy to see?

What sets us apart from other stores is the memorabilia we have in stock. We have a large inventory of autographed records, CDs, concert used memorabilia and more. These are the big ticket items we have on our walls that have higher price tags than most of the vinyl.

Cash or store credit — how do sellers usually decide, and what's the honest case you make for one over the other?

We accept all forms of payment. Customers looking to trade are welcome to hear our offers.

Being downtown means you must catch a lot of "I found this in my grandfather's attic" walk-ins from people who happened to be nearby. What's the wildest thing that's come through the door that way?

Probably the wildest buy I made was at an appointment near Mars PA. I purchased a collection of over 6,000 LPs and 4,000 45s.

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Last updated: 2026-09-20

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