Small but beautiful (Spillers Records)

Member Name: otalgia

Product:	Spillers Records
Date:	16/08/08 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great selection of music and friendly staff

Disadvantages: Can get a bit packed on Saturdays

Being a fan of music, I thought I'd write a quick review of a record shop that I have bought most of my Cd's and Vinyl from since the late seventies; Spillers Records.

Spillers Records is a small record shop that is located in the Hayes area of Cardiff.

Spillers claims to the oldest record shop in the world. The store was founded by Henry Spiller in 1894. The store, which was then located in Queens Arcade Cardiff sold and repaired old wax disc machines and phonographs. In 1940, Henry Spillers son relocated the business to the Hayes where it still remains today.

From outside the shop appears very small and has quite a narrow storefront. The window usually displays all of the latest releases, fanzines and gig information.

Appearances can be deceptive, and as you enter the store you realise that it is a musical Tardis!

To the right of the shop is a long sweeping store counter. Behind the counter you have friendly staff that between them seem to be knowledgeable of all music genres. Which is handy as the store covers all types of music from obscure punk, jazz, dance, Welsh Music right through to the top ten chart CD's. In the seventies, before the advent of CD, this counter was full of seven inch record trays. I spent many an hour there, after school, harassing the staff for obscure coloured vinyl punk records!

Nowadays, the shop is entrenched in racks of alphabetically, genre sorted, CD covers and finding the music you'd like is very easy. Towards the rear of the store they have the Welsh Music and vinyl sections. If a record is unavailable then you will find that the staff are always helpful and will order the record in for you, which depending on the distributor usually takes around two weeks. In addition to the records and CD's there are T-Shirts, DVD's and even gig tickets.

Price wise the shop is very reasonable and often beats the major record shops on price for chart records. They are also very flexible with returning accidental purchases (providing it wasn't a special order).

The shop is very community spirited, and the walls are daubed with posters for up and coming local gigs and events. There is also a band wall where you can place adverts to recruit band members or sell your musical equipment.

Despite being such a small store, they still manage to have live music events in the store! At the end of the shop they set up all of the musical equipment and showcase all genres of music. The shows usually take place after the shop as closed and to get in you have to get there early! Any more than 30 people in attendance can make it claustrophobic and unpleasant.

In addition to the gigs, they also have in store signings where artists will sign your purchases.

You can view samples of the in store gigs and more on the spillers youtube channel at-

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=SpillersRecor ds


For those wishing to visit, Spillers are about 5 minutes on foot from Cardiff Central train station and is well worth a visit.

Their address is;
36 The Hayes,
Cardiff
CF10 1AJ

The store is open 9.30 - 5.45 Monday to Saturday but closed on Sundays.
Tel: +44(0)29 20224905.

Sadly, due to the continual redevelopment of Cardiff City Centre and more importantly the Hayes are of Cardiff, Spillers location has become prime estate and their livelihood been placed under threat. It would be a shame to lose such a heritage.
With record shops in decline, due to the digital age, let's hope that the store doesn't become another victim of modernisation.

Summary: Cardiffs best record store