On Slater Street in Liverpool, The Jacaranda’s black frontage hides the racks upstairs. Jacaranda Records opened on that first floor in 2015, in a room that had already sold vinyl in the 1950s, and it still sits inside the building’s life as a bar and live venue.
Background / History
The Jacaranda dates to 1958, when Allan Williams opened a coffee bar and music hangout at 21-23 Slater Street. The basement is part of Liverpool’s early Beatles story, used by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe to rehearse and play, and a plaque on the building marks an August 1960 appearance with Pete Best. Managing director Graham Stanley opened Jacaranda Records upstairs on 29 June 2015, then learned the same floor had once been Syd’s Disk Den. The shop marked ten years in 2025, is a Record Store Day regular with queues often stretching along Slater Street, was shortlisted for Music Week’s Independent Retailer of the Year in 2020, and was nominated for Best Independent Record Store at the AIM Independent Music Awards in 2026. A later sister shop, Jacaranda Baltic, trades in the Baltic Triangle. This listing is the original Slater Street floor.
What You’ll Find
The racks mix new releases and reissues with vintage vinyl, and signed copies and limited editions turn up through the year. The shop also puts out Jacaranda Editions, store-exclusive pressings. Coffee and drinks are served on the same floor, so you can sit with a record rather than rushing the browse. Listening has been part of the room from the start, with turntables in the seating. A 1948 Voice-o-Graph booth, a rare machine that records sound straight onto vinyl, has been a fixture since opening and was used again for a Record Store Day 2026 giveaway.
Experience / Atmosphere
You come in through the ground-floor bar, then head upstairs for the shop. Daytime belongs to browsing and listening; the bar below keeps going late. The first floor is a dark, low-lit vinyl room, with records around the walls and space to sit and hear what you have pulled. Downstairs, the basement hosts live music most nights, with free weekend shows including Indie Rock Circus on Fridays, Rock N Roll Circus on Saturdays, and Open Mic Sundays. Record Store Day is a full-shop event here, with exclusive titles from early morning and live sets later on.
Why Visit
- First-floor vinyl shop inside a 1958 Slater Street music landmark, on a floor that sold records in the 1950s too
- New, vintage and Jacaranda Editions pressings, plus signed and limited copies
- Room to listen as well as browse, with coffee and drinks upstairs
- Basement gigs and weekend circus nights downstairs, and Record Store Day queues along Slater Street
Summary
Jacaranda Records is the vinyl room at the top of one of Liverpool’s best-known music buildings. Come for the racks and the listening space, stay if a band is on downstairs, and you can make an afternoon or a night of it without leaving Slater Street.
