You might get a strange feeling the first time you wander into Vintage Music Co., located in the Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis. It’s not exactly like stepping back into a bygone era, but it’s close. Imagine, if you will, that you’ve suddenly stumbled into a museum curated by a mad genius obsessed with music, history and culture. Consider the stage set.
Proprietor Scott Holthus has been cataloguing 78 RPM phonograph records since he was a kid, keeping numerous notebooks filled with titles, composers, release dates, labels and matrix numbers. Along the way, Scott learned how to restore old audio equipment, discovering the nuances mainly by hands-on trial and error. Vintage Music Co. is now one of the only places in the Twin Cities to exclusively repair and restore tube equipment. Scott isn’t someone who’s swayed by trends – he has never used an iPod, and he stays away from social media – but with the rise in popularity of Danish Modern furniture over the last five to 10 years, the store now deals in large consoles outfitted with auxiliary inputs to accommodate digital music players.
Vintage Music Co. is quite possibly the only record store in the country to exclusively sell 78 records. Few and far between are the places that can straddle old technology, history and culture with present-day audiophile needs. The store is a rare gem that can only be fully appreciated when you walk through its brick-and-mortar doors.
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