A retro orange-and-yellow record logo above a Trinity Street window lettered with three simple words, records, CDs and cassettes, tells you most of what you need to know about Museum Vinyl before you have even opened the door. This independent shop in the centre of St Austell deals in new releases and original pressings side by side, and it has become a regular stop for Cornish collectors who want their second-hand vinyl checked properly before it goes in the bag.
Background / History
Museum Vinyl is an independently run shop at 15 Trinity Street, a short walk from the town’s main shopping streets. It has grown into a proper destination for music buyers in mid Cornwall, where record shops are thinly spread, and it is an official Record Store Day retailer, carrying the annual exclusives as well as the indie-only pressings released through the rest of the year. Alongside the shop sits a well-kept online store, so you can reserve something on the website and pick it up at the counter with free click and collect. The shop has also sponsored Sunday Sessions, album listening sessions held at the hi-fi specialist HBH Woolacotts in the town.
What You’ll Find
The racks mix new vinyl LPs with used and original copies, and the shop keeps separate sections for 12-inch singles, 7-inch singles, RSD and indie exclusives, and limited pressings such as coloured vinyl and half-speed masters. CDs, cassette tapes and music merchandise fill out the rest of the room. Rock and metal are well represented, but the browsers also run through punk, pop, indie, blues, reggae and electronic music across several decades. What sets the used stock apart is the grading. Almost every second-hand LP and tape is play tested before it is priced, while CDs and 7-inch singles are graded by eye and put on the turntable or player whenever they look as if they need it. Fresh stock is graded and added every week, usually on a Friday, and the shop buys records and CDs too, from single titles to whole collections.
Experience / Atmosphere
Inside, the shop is a long, bright room with timber beams overhead, wooden browsers running down both sides with lettered dividers, and sleeves hung along the walls. The warm oranges and browns of the shopfront carry through into the decor, giving the place a gently seventies feel that suits the stock. It is a compact shop that makes good use of every foot of space, and the friendly, knowledgeable service means you can ask after a particular title or simply dig at your own pace. Prices are fair, and the Friday restock gives regulars a good reason to call in each week.
Why Visit
- Used LPs and cassettes are almost all play tested before they reach the racks
- New stock is graded and added weekly, generally on Fridays
- Official Record Store Day retailer with indie exclusives through the year
- Records and CDs bought, from single items to full collections
- Free click and collect from the online shop
Summary
Museum Vinyl gives St Austell a record shop that takes second-hand stock seriously, grading and play testing it with real care, while keeping the new releases, exclusives and limited pressings coming in. Friendly, fairly priced and restocked every week, it is well worth building into any trip to mid Cornwall, whether you are chasing an original pressing or simply want to spend a happy half hour flicking through the browsers.
