Vinyl Lives: Charleston’s Eclectic Cafe & Vinyl Serves Up Food And Tunes

In Vinyl Lives we spotlight and profile record stores around the country who offer music lovers an experience that goes beyond an iTunes purchase or a Spotify playlist. Vinyl has found a new resurgence and the good folks behind independent record stores are on the front line, directly responsible for curating a unique collection of music. Here at Glide Magazine we feel that record stores are a valuable part of the community and to music as a whole, and are therefore worth celebrating.

Would you like eggs or a cup of coffee with your record? How about duck confit or a tasty local brew? Charleston’s Eclectic Cafe & Vinyl serves up all of these things under one roof. Located in the hip Cannonborough/Elliotborough neighborhood, Eclectic has been serving up new and hard-to-find vinyl alongside delicious food and drinks for less than a year and already it seems to be a good fit for this Southern city. As of now, vinyl and books are only a small portion of the business, with most people coming for the food and drinks, but the presence of music and literature clearly enhances the atmosphere and is a big part of the draw for patrons. Eclectic is part of a somewhat new business model happening in cities and towns across the country that brings together elements of independent record and book stores with cafes and coffee shops. For many, having these things come together makes for a more exciting way to dine and shop. Recently we caught up with Eclectic’s owner Garrett Garnos to chat about what makes his business unique.

Can you give us a short history of the store? 

The store has been open for 7 months. The concept behind the store is to provide a cultural gathering place to celebrate good vinyl, literature, poetry and live music within a comfortable environment serving quality food and coffee.

Is there a specific style of music that you specialize in?

We do not really specialize in a specific genre of music. We do not even organize music in terms of genre, but simply alphabetically. I suppose we cater towards people’s sentimentality – their musical memories – and try to keep the best albums since the 1960’s in stock in all genres.

How much of your stock is used vs. new?

We are probably half new and half used vinyl.

Where does your shop fit into the musical history of your region?

In terms of the musical history of the region, I suppose we fit in now. We carry any and all releases from local bands and also have live music 2 nights a week.

What are some of your recent top sellers?

Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailors Guide to the Earth and a local band (which is really taking off – touring with the Lumineers this spring) Susto’s new album, & I’m Fine Today.

Are there any upcoming releases you are particularly excited about?

We are excited for the release of Father John Misty’s new album, the new Fleet Foxes album, Phosphorescent’s new album. This is a really tough question, and I’m not sure how to answer it except in terms of the albums I’m most looking forward to.

You’d be surprised we sell a lot of…

You’d be surprised, but we sell a lot of food, coffee, beer, and wine. We are a hybrid store and vinyl sales are probably only about 15% of our net sales.

Eclectic Cafe & Vinyl is located at 132 Spring St. Unit A in Charleston, SC. For hours, menu, and more visit eclecticcafeandvinyl.com or check out their Facebook page. 

Check out other editions of Vinyl Lives:

Luna Music (Indianapolis, IN)

Sweat Records (Miami, FL)

Shed House Records

Guestroom Records (Norman/Oklahoma City, OK & Louisville, KY)

Streetlight Records (San Jose/Santa Cruz, CA)

Scotti’s Record Shop (Summit, NJ)

Breakaway Records (Austin, TX)

Euclid Records (St. Louis & New Orleans)

Stinkweeds (Phoenix, AZ)

Pure Pop Records (Burlington, VT)

Generation Records (New York, NY)

Wall of Sound (Seattle, WA)

Strictly Discs (Madison, WI)

Is there a record store you think we should profile? Feel free to shoot your suggestions to Neil Ferguson on Twitter: @musicjournzo!