New store, Miyagi Records, to open in Chicago this month

A new store called Miyagi Records is set to open in Chicago this month.

Located on East Garfield Boulevard in the Washington Park neighbourhood of Chicago, the store, which first launched online in 2019, will specialise in “obscure and classic – Soul, Funk, Jazz, Latin, Rock, Blues, World Music, New Wave / Industrial, Hip-Hop, Disco, House LP, 12inch single, & 45rpm formats,” according to their website.

Miyagi Records, which takes its name from the Japanese term for “shrine fortress,” is inspired by the” hyper-curated, hidden away vinyl shops of Tokyo, Japan”. Writing on their website, the store’s team said: “The crane that you can see on our logo is a symbol for longevity and prosperity in Japanese culture. Miyagi Records embodies all these concepts.”

“We acknowledge that most of the music we love and sell was created by musicians of color, and this informs our business ethics. As a BIPOC-owned store, we want to serve the diverse Southside community by showcasing the vibrant musical legacy of Chicago’s Southside and by offering all our patrons high quality customer service and fair prices,” they continue.

In other vinyl news, last year saw the creation of the world’s smallest vinyl record. The tiny vinyl record, which measures just 40 μm/micrometres or microns in diameter (for scale, the diameter of a human hair is 70 microns, and a red blood cell is eight microns) was created using a new nano-sculpting machine called the NanoFrazor.

Last year, Taiwanese press plant Mobineko unveiled a new pressing machine specifically for short runs, aiming to reduce the global bottleneck for vinyl production. Can the pressing plant revolutionise the vinyl market? Read the feature here.