As if living up to its name,
Yeti Records, a mom-and-pop vinyl record shop that was previously located at 35th and Nicollet in Minneapolis, is on the move.
Soon, it will operate out of truck, making stops at local festivals and other outdoor events.
Jake Luck, who owns the shop with his wife, Lisa, explains that the development was prompted by the rising cost of rent and a new baby.
This way, the couple can keep the shop they opened in 2010 going, with much less overhead. The idea of the truck came up because “We wanted to find our own way to make it work, something that nobody else in town was doing,” he says. “This seemed like a way we could do it that would make it fun.”
In June they raised over $2,000 through an online campaign with
Indiegogo.com to buy the truck--a vintage RV from the 1970s.
Now, the couple is in the process of remodeling the inside of the RV to “look like an actual record store,” he says.
Like its old bricks-and-mortar shop, “We want to make it as warm as possible,” he says, adding, “It’ll be different because it’s a different type of space.”
Luck is building carrying cases for the records that double as racks, to make them easy to take in and out of the truck.
The advantage of a truck is being able to go to areas of the city that don’t have a record shop, he says.
But the challenge is that only a handful of people can come into the shop at once, which means they’ll have to come up with a system for handling foot traffic, he says. “We’re trying to come up with something organic.”
He expects the truck’s first public appearance to take place in October.
“Whenever I tell people about the record truck idea, it seems to excite people,” he says. “It’s pretty novel.”
Source: Jake Luck, co-owner, Yeti Records
Writer: Anna Pratt