It’s Saturday morning and the Off the Beaten Tracks record shop in Louth is as busy as always. Music-lovers crowd the stands hunting for new finds, bargains and rarities, while a constant stream of fresh sounds pour out of the store’s sound system – a mix of alternative artists and local bands.
‘‘Whenever I’m in town I check to see if there is anything new in,” said one regular customer Aidan Chahal-Hawson 19. “I always manage to find something I’ve been looking for.’’
Since the pandemic, local businesses have been struggling to stay afloat. In 2023, there was a record-breaking, 585,807 businesses closed across the UK. Yet despite the gloomy high street outlook, Off the Beaten Track – a quaint record store in the centre of Louth – is this summer celebrating its 20th anniversary.
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Run by Mark Merrifield and wife and business partner Lee Conybeare – both 49 – the place is something of a treasure trove, tucked away between a bookies and a takeaway in Aswell Street. And it is much loved by Louth locals.
“I don’t know if I would have ever opened a record store in a big city, they are already so well serviced,” says Mark who is originally from Manchester. ‘’I was looking to move to Louth to be with Lee and looking to sell records, and there wasn’t anywhere doing what we did nearby, so it just seemed to fit.’’
It has been in three locations over its two decades and moved to Aswell Street in June 2022 as it sought to expand after the pandemic. “I feel lucky the business has done well over the years,” says Mark.
(Image: Jack Rossiter)
Young people from Louth – and across Lincolnshire – appear to be driving the current success. A global rise in interest in vinyl, a growing number of UK collectors and the impact of the national Record Store Day have all helped the wider sector, meanwhile.
Today, there are some 461 independent record shops in the UK according to the ERA 2024 Yearbook – a figure that is 122 more than in 2014. “We wouldn’t do the shop now if it wasn’t for Record Store Day,” says Mark.
“It’s such an event because artists put out interesting things for it so [an independent shop] can provide something no one else can. I remember one year there was a Beatles record – a seven-inch single, Sgt Pepper and Penny Lane in red – I asked for 20 and we only got three or four. I wanted to keep one for myself, but I couldn’t because I knew everyone else would want it.”
Of the day itself, he says: “We used to just open the doors at 8am and people would pile in you’d have nearly 50 people in this tiny little shop, getting to the point where it was unsafe. We get people to queue now because it’s the fairest way.”
As to advice for anyone wanting to open their own record shop, just go for it is the verdict.
“As a young person don’t be put off by the cost or the size of the task or even the size of the competition,” he says. “The more ambitious you may be the better… just research the hell out of it.”
He adds: “In my early twenties I wanted to be a musician and songwriter but I just wasn’t ambitious enough. So, you might not reach the targets you set yourself but that’s okay.”
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