SAN ANTONIO – Despite the popularity of streaming music, there is at least one record shop in San Antonio that is still thriving with vinyl record sales.
KSAT 12 News reporter Max Massey paid a visit to Janie's Record Shop, where he talked with Janie Esparza, owner of the record shop, and her son, Robert Esparza, who manages the business.
Q: How did you get started?
A: "In her 50s, she went back and got her GED (General Educational Development diploma), and she worked for another record shop, but she knew so much about the music. It was more like a hobby for them, but for my mom, it was a passion," Robert Esparza said.
Janie Esparza started her business in 1985.
"Music is life," she said.
Q: How is your business keeping up with the music streaming services?
A: "More and more teenagers, 20-year-olds, they're looking for the vintage vinyl, and it's amazing," Robert Esparza said.
Esparza said recently, there has been an increase in sales and a wide variety of customers.
"Everyone who walks in this store has a story," he said. "We have had visitors from Germany, Netherlands, Scotland, Japan."
He said people come from far and wide looking for that Texas sound.
"We do have every section, we have some of the international Spanish, then we go into our English oldies, soundtracks, Tejano," Robert Esparza said.
Q: What's next for you guys?
A: "We have such an extensive supply of vinyl. It's going to take us a while to go away," he said.