Spillers Records

Spillers Records, established in 1894, is recognised as the oldest record shop in the world.[1][2][notes 1] It is located in Cardiff, Wales. In addition to selling music, it is the city's main location for buying tickets for alternative music concerts.

Spillers Records in the Morgan Arcade (2016)

History

Spillers was founded in 1894 by Henry Spiller at its original location in Queens Arcade, where the shop specialised in the sale of phonographs, wax phonograph cylinders and shellac phonograph discs and also sold and repaired musical instruments. In the early 1920s, Spiller's son Edward took over the running of the business and, with the aid of the popular accordionist and bandleader Joe Gregory, sold musical instruments alongside the pre-recorded music. In the late 1940s the shop moved around the corner to a larger premises on The Hayes.

In 2006, the shop's future was made uncertain when the site rent was increased by Spillers' landlords, Helical Bar, who stated that they were keen for the shop to survive. A local campaign to save the shop was initiated, including a petition initiated by Owen John Thomas (then the Assembly Member for South Wales Central) and supported by members of the Welsh Assembly, Manic Street Preachers and Columbia Records.[2] In 2010 Spillers moved to the nearby Morgan Arcade, initially on a temporary basis, with the expectation that the move will be made permanent if successful.[4]

In 2019, Spillers called for a boycott of Morrissey and his music due to his support for a far-right political party.[5]

  • Second location in The Hayes (2007)
    Second location in The Hayes (2007)
  • In the Morgan Arcade (2012)
    In the Morgan Arcade (2012)
  • Interior (2017)
    Interior (2017)
  • Exterior (2017)
    Exterior (2017)

Notes
  1. The shopfront of the D'Amato Records store in Valletta, Malta, indicates that it was established in 1885, and it is claimed that it has been operating as a record store since then. A 2016 investigation failed to find definitive evidence to confirm or reject this claim.[3]

References
  1. "Oldest shop selling records". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  2. "The owners of Spillers Records, recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest such emporium on Earth, say that it will close unless a buyer is found." "World's oldest record shop in the death grip of a developer", The Times, London, 1 December 2006.
  3. Cilia, Johnathan (21 July 2016). "The Search For The Oldest Record Store in the World". Trackagescheme.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  4. "World's Oldest record shop ready for move", BBC Online – South East Wales, 25 June 2010.
  5. "World's oldest record store bans Morrissey sales over far-right support". The Guardian.
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