Today, Seattle-based agency Creature (they of recent storefront fame) opened a vinyl record shop in their ever-changing office window where customers can buy records by the pound. It’s a call back to nostalgia for family-run butcher shops and the original small business. You even buy your records out of a deli case and take them home wrapped in butcher paper. The first person to conduct business in Elpee’s Beat Shop bought 10 pounds worth of music. Thankfully, at $1.46 per pound, 10 pounds of “Choice Cuts” records costs much less than 10 pounds of tender ribeye. For the thriftier shoppers, there’s always the “Prime Beats” quality of vinyl selling for $1.03 per pound.
The storefront, with all of it’s Seattle-y charm, will be open weekdays throughout the holiday season as well as the occasional weekend. I’m not sure what kind of records you can buy – one of the press photos shows off a cutely tattered Nat King Cole album – but for a place rooted in music history, I’m hoping there’s plenty of variety. As of the opening, Creature promised 1,000 albums for sale. And if seeing all the butcher paraphernalia makes you hungry, there’s always Meat Loaf.