thePULSEBy Katey Khaos
“A few years ago, I pulled out all my old records, hooked up my turntable and instantly fell in love with vinyl again. It had probably been 15 years or more since I last listened to them,” said Joe Demers, founder and owner of Joe’s Albums. “I started to look for places to purchase good, listening copies of records at a reasonable price and couldn’t find much out there, locally or online. At that time, I built my website and started selling online. It has grown into the brick-and-mortar store, recently opened.”
Joe’s Albums is your one-stop shop for vinyl records. “Vinyl is our business, and therefore our only focus,” Demers explained. What’s great about Joe’s Albums is its unique customer interaction ~ offering up things many record stores don’t. Customers can listen to vinyls before purchasing them, and the store accepts custom orders for any piece still available in distribution. Joe’s will also enter customers into a database with a list of what they’re looking for, and they’ll be notified if and when the item becomes available.
In addition to a huge collection of vinyl records, Joe’s offers music-related T-shirts, books, posters, magazines, record players and mugs, making Joe’s Albums a music haven.
“We aren’t looking to offer any additional products any time soon. High-quality new and used vinyl is what we are known for and don’t want to water that down with other things,” Demers said.
You can check out what Joe’s has in stock by visiting the store at 1124 Pleasant St., Worcester. Currently only open on weekends, Demers is considering the idea additional hours. Or, if you’d rather skim through some vinyl on the Web, you can view Joe’s entire inventory at joesalbums.com.
