28 C
West Palm Beach
Tuesday, June 6, 2023

‘Rust and Wax’ brings back the community record store

Rust & Wax Record Shop has made the leap into the new Industry Alley district off Belvedere Rd as the place for discovering and expanding your love of music, free of judgment, a place designed to provide you with a comfortable space to explore and find new music.

In the heyday of grand record stores, those long-gone places were more than just a store to buy music, they were community hangouts that stocked everything from vinyl to cassettes to CDs and music magazines, posters, merchandise, and often had stages for live shows. True music lover meccas. But those places are gone, victims of changing tastes, formats, and gentrification.

But all is not lost! Melanie and Jesse Feldman, the owners of Rust & Wax Record Shop, started at Elizabeth Station two and a half years ago and have now made the leap into their own stand-alone store in the new Industry Alley district off Belvedere Rd.

“We believe that, at its core, a record shop should be a place for discovering and expanding your love of music, free of judgment,” the couple says. “We started Rust & Wax to give West Palm Beach the record shop we always wanted to see in our community – a record shop that was designed to provide you with a comfortable space to explore and find new music.”

Rust and Wax brings back the community record store
Owners Melanie and Jesse Feldman

This is their first store, selling vinyl and cassettes only right now. CDs and 8-track need not apply. As a physical medium, cassettes are coming back with Walkman cassette players being reissued.

“Vinyl is big now,” Jesse says, “the comeback started in the early 2000s and has picked up steam. People like the connection with an actual album, the lyrics sheets, the artwork, maybe colored limited editions, it all adds to the experience. We have had a great reception to our new space—even though we opened in a pandemic! In the past year the only experience of music most people have had is recorded so there has been a spike in business. People have been craving something like this in the area for a long time, a communal space. My first job was at Spec’s in high school and I miss the record store experience to look through records, magazines. This is filling a void, a hangout space.”

A coffee shop is ready to open next door, which will add to the community feel.

Rust and Wax brings back the community record store

“We can turn people onto new music,” Melanie says. “When the coffee shop opens, we are planning outdoor shows in the fall; some events, DJs playing, some live music, record releases. We want to get people out, we have lawn space and parking lot space here. When we saw all the space that was a big attraction for us. It’s about connection to music and community you don’t get with a download.”

Rust & Wax gets their vinyl from distributors, private collectors, small labels, and by tracking down collections on their own. They sell or trade, will go to their place and buy. Customers can trade for in-store credit too.

The couple brings personality to the store, it feels like a welcoming space, no judgment, with a couch to hang out, listen to music on headsets, and browse. They inform people about record players to play their new vinyl on. And as some people have never seen records, Melanie and Jesse teach how to maintain them.

Rust and Wax brings back the community record store

Their focus is on rock, pop, and especially jazz as there is a revival on the jazz scene. Soul and funk is a passion project, too. But they’re still figuring some things out, what works and what does not.

At Rust and Wax music resonates throughout the store. Here, the shopping experience is all about the product. The masked bin-diving clientele can easily get the specific album they have sought for days, months, years.

In an era when CDs have lost their luster and downloads are down the drain Rust and Wax keeps the sound warm; their covers can be unrivaled artworks for music lovers. Perhaps it will become the most influential, hospitable, and downright essential record shop in Florida.

Rust & Wax is at 2618 Florida Ave, West Palm Beach, 33401. Online at rustandwax.com

Rust and Wax brings back the community record store

Latest

Lake Worth Art studio helps save the planet one mural at a time

Some recent window honors Greta Thunberg (Think Globally) and two local scientists.

Suzan-Lori Parks’ dark comedy, ‘Top Dog, Underdog,’ portrays a universal predicament

Suzan-Lori Parks’ dark comedy, ‘Top Dog, Underdog,’ portrays a cultural and universal predicament. The play is at Palm Beach Dramaworks.

Art with a retro vibe at new pour your own taproom

Mural by Pensacola-based artist Morgan Summers adds to the fun at Garden District Taproom.

Boca travel agency books TV’s ‘The Bachelor ‘couple

Leslie Tillem-Doniger is set for major national attention with a new NBC pilot called, “The Extra Mile Club.”

Newsletter

Get "The Weekly," and be in the know of the best of West Palm Beach in your in-box, plus occasional alerts when we publish major stories.

Must Read...

Trojan Rocking Horses to gallop downtown West Palm Beach

Finnish designer Marco Casagrande will monitor, supervise, and design the horses.

Mural by Emo pushes public transportation in the Palm Beaches

Local artist Eduardo Mendieta painted the mural on the roof of the TPA building.

El Camino revs up The Square with a bright mix of fun, food & tequilas

The new spot serves lunch, dinner, weekend brunch and two daily happy hours.

Charlie & Joe’s at Love Street is a ‘touchdown’ in the heart of Jupiter

The restaurant is a culinary compound with the community in mind.

Jennifer Wesley and the ‘Alchemy’ of simple things in life

Jennifer Wesley of Alchemy Juice Co. & Market is a woman of substance.

Lake Worth Art studio helps save the planet one mural at a time

Some recent window honors Greta Thunberg (Think Globally) and two local scientists.

Suzan-Lori Parks’ dark comedy, ‘Top Dog, Underdog,’ portrays a universal predicament

Suzan-Lori Parks’ dark comedy, ‘Top Dog, Underdog,’ portrays a cultural and universal predicament. The play is at Palm Beach Dramaworks.

Art with a retro vibe at new pour your own taproom

Mural by Pensacola-based artist Morgan Summers adds to the fun at Garden District Taproom.