Groovacious, Groovefest. What is this, the 1960s? Seems like it when you walk into Tim and Lisa Cretsinger’s record store – that’s right, record store – Groovacious in Cedar City, Utah. They moved their entire inventory of old vinyl and newer media from Keizer, Oregon in 2000. Tim vows they’ll never move again.
His search for a stand-alone building with a cozy, lived-in feeling brought him to this former Lin’s Market a block off the main drag in the historic heart of Festival City USA. Only problem was, the owner was using the old Lin’s for storage with no intention of leasing. With his first load of inventory in town and a determination not to haul it back to Oregon, Tim sat down with his prospective landlord on a roll of carpet and convinced him that the old building would be more profitable as a record store than a storage unit.
Ten years later the Groovacious record store and Groovefest music festival started by the Cretsingers are institutions that enliven Cedar City’s Historic Downtown, promote local talent, and help sustain the City’s economy and culture. The former Lin’s supermarket has a new lease on life with lessees who find the old building a perfect retro fit for their vintage music business. (Left, Tim takes a break during the Take Pride in Downtown Spring Clean-up Day, April 10, 2010.)
UHF is working with Groovacious, other members of the newly-formed Cedar City Downtown Retail Association, and the Cedar City-Brian Head Tourism Bureau on a Main Street approach to the revitalization of the City’s downtown shopping and entertainment district kicked off by the Spring Clean-up Day. It’s certainly a model that other communities can pick up a note or two from, no matter what their speed (33 or 45 rpm).
Read Record store: Groovacious grooves on in Cedar City, Salt Lake Tribune, October 7, 2009
Read Record Store Day 2010 is a celebration of all things vinyl, New York Daily News, April 16, 2010
Subscribe to this comment's feed
