Storecasting: Vacation Vinyl Joins Hollywood Boulevard Oasis of Hip

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The shopping vortex that is Los Feliz's stretch of Hollywood Boulevard has reined in another tenant: A record shop called Vacation, which is set to open this weekend. Joining neighbors like Confederacy, Apartment 3 and Jake Vintage, the shop will carry a carefully culled range of vinyl, along with turntables and accessories fit for serious collectors and first-timers alike.

"It's been a while since this area's had a record shop in general," says David Ritchie, a partner in the store who also co-owns Silverlake comic shop Secret Headquarters with Dave Pifer. "A lot of the smaller spaces have dried up, so we thought maybe it's time for someone to step in with some different ideas." As Ritchie explains it, Vacation will be taking more of a curatorial approach than your average record store, focusing on local acts, hard-to-find albums, and "stuff that we think is really great and want to stand behind." The shop won't specialize in a specific musical niche, but Ritchie does note that the current stock "mostly falls into the rock category."

Although the opening selection was culled from the playlists of Vacation's founding fathers—Ritchie and Pifer, Hydra Head records co-founders Aaron Turner and Mark Thompson, and store manager, buyer, and Amoeba Records alum Peter Majors—Ritchie stresses that future customers will have a hand in shaping its direction. "We're going to start buying records, and we hope customers turn us on to other stuff so we can take it from there," he says. But with all submissions filtered through Majors' discerning eye, we have a feeling your Journey's Greatest Hits album probably won't make the cut.
· Neighborhoods—Los Feliz Growing East on Hollywood Boulevard, Yes, We’re Vacation Record Shop Included! [Blackburn & Sweetzer]
· Neighborhood Watch: Hollywood Boulevard, East of Vermont Avenue [Racked]
· Now Open: Confederacy on Hollywood Boulevard [Racked]