Phoenix record store closes after more than a decade, reopens in California

Sorry, crate diggers and music shoppers. After 13 years in a couple of different Valley locations, The Record Room will close at the end of May. However, it’s not the end for the vinyl destination.

Store owner John Rose and his wife Holly left Phoenix three years ago for the beachy Carlsbad, California, and have had a revolving staff running things since, with him returning as much as possible. However, that kind of back-and-forth travel has its challenges, and Rose decided that he’d like to keep the store going, just close to his Cali digs.

“Basically, I want my baby to live where I live,” Rose laughs (he and his wife have a couple of human kids, too). He found a location in Carlsbad and will be working to get things up and running.

Rose opened The Record Room in Old Town Scottsdale in 2012 in a small storefront with a small back patio. The space was great for intimate live performances and DJ gigs. However, rising rents and a desire for more space led Rose to move to the west side of town. In either space, Rose says he loved the regulars, having in-store performances and “anything that comes along with running a record store.”

The Record Room wasn’t his first rodeo. He fell in love with record stores as a kid. “They were a refuge, a place to get lost in for me and for people who love music,” Rose says, recalling an early experience popping into a music shop. “I saw an Iggy Pop poster on the wall, the one with him and a hammer and a bunch of broken records, and I just thought, ‘this is what I want to do.’ It’s just always what I wanted to do.”

He and his wife, who is the founder of the cancer-oriented nonprofit Check for A Lump, went to Las Vegas in the early ‘90s and opened a vintage store with records called Recycled Rags for a chunk of time.

Later that decade, they moved to Pacific Beach and opened a spot called The Garage, where they also sold records. Eventually, they returned to Arizona, where he grew up and was immersed in local music, and Rose went to work for his family’s business. Fast-forward another decade, give or take a few years, and that vinyl-slinging itch still needed a scratch, and the latest iteration, The Record Room, was born.

Rose says he is thankful for everyone who has worked in the shop, every band who has come to do an in-store show, and all customers who have come to trade and shop. He’ll be open through May 31, and on that final weekend, look for a sale or two to happen. Follow the store's Facebook page to see all the happenings at the Carlsbad Village location.

The Record Room is located at 2601 W. Dunlap Ave.