Townsville Records: From Flinders Street Cotters Market stall to vinyl shop

Townsville Records’ shop owner discusses rare albums, running a small business, and rediscovering old music.

Townsville Records owner Sean Casey has turned a market side hustle into a business in the Central Business District. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Record enthusiast Sean Casey started out as a market stall owner who sold a few vinyls, but the idea expanded so much that he finds himself six months into owning a shop in Townsville’s Central Business District.

The Townsville Records owner said there was a strong following for vinyl records and in rediscovering lost music that had reached modern technological streaming services.

It helps keep Mr Casey in business as long as he is willing to earn a small wage while he continues to grow his business by buying second-hand records for his store.

He began as a businessman in a Cotters Market antiques stall about five years ago, but after selling a few records among the items decided to focus on selling those instead.

“It’s more me than antiques and vintages,” Mr Casey said.

Townsville Records owner Sean Casey pictured in his Flinders Street store. Picture: Shae Beplate.

“It’s something I knew more about.”

After being vulnerable to summer heat and rainy days at his market stall, a shopkeeper in Flinders Street suggested that he lease a vacant store next to her instead.

He did the financial figures, determined it was possible, and turned his side hustle into a five-day business in April.

Townsville Records owner Sean Casey searches through his records on offer. He struggles to estimate the amount that he has considering there are many yet to be displayed. Picture: Shae Beplate.

“It does okay, I don’t need a lot to cover my expenses,” he said.

“I make a small wage for myself and I keep buying more stock and making it bigger and bigger.”

More than six months on he continues to grow his business, having several thousand records either on display or packed away, and always making discoveries out in the community.

“My clientele is all ages, young people, most of them want the same thing, big names they have heard of, big famous albums they have heard of,” he said.

“Some people surprise me, some people come in and are prepared to pay a couple of $100 for a rare album, and others say that’s ridiculous.

The rarest and most albums were those he had never heard of, including one in pride of place in the store from a psychedelic rock band called The Cleves which released only one album, which it did in 1971, which was selling for $500.

While he does offer some new vinyl it was selective and in small amounts, but there was a market for that, because of the sheer volume of hard copy music that yet had not been digitalised.

“Music has totally lost something.

“People just want their music back, something they could hold in their hand.

“If you love a good steak you wouldn’t want to be fed through a tube, would you?”

Originally published as Townsville Records: From Flinders Street Cotters Market stall to vinyl shop