Reel Around The Fountain Records

Reel Around The Fountain Records is a vinyl store in the unlikely setting of Stretford Mall. There’s a slightly sad emptiness to the mall these days but it means there’s plenty of space for Reel Around The Fountain to spread out. For an indie record shop, it’s pretty vast. Like a Virgin Megastore without the chart hits.

In fact Richard Branson does come to mind because this is a record shop for millionaires who love music. It’s not a place to come and search for a diamond in the rough. You aren’t going to find a first press of Abbey Road for a quid. However, if you’re a real vinyl aficionado you can buy treasures like early Belgian and Australian pressings of Pink Moon, My Bloody Valentine rarities and even an original Are You Experienced. Be prepared to pay for it. We’re talking three figures.

Reel Around The Fountain offers a completely different browsing experience to most other record stores. Everything is pure gold. No sifting through eighties landfill here. It’s the sixties to the nineties which are the main focus and there are fewer Smiths LPs than you might imagine.

All the coolest albums, all the cult underground hits, the rock canon, the alternative classics, you’ll find them here, likely as not. It’s a strange mix of carefully curated yet with a huge stock. No wonder it’s a top recommendation from BBC 6 Music’s Marc Riley.

And despite the fact that owner Nigel Young knows the full gamut of zip sizes on all the different pressings of Sticky Fingers (you won’t be able to ‘pull’ a fast one) it’s not a snobbish place. Or maybe only slightly, and in a good way. You can chat for ages about music and leave with records to cherish and something even more special, a spark re-ignited for the music you love.