NH Vintage Vinyl opens in Laconia

LACONIA — For decades, Greenlaw’s Music was a social and musical hub of the city, until the beloved store closed its doors last fall. For nearly half a year, the storefront on the corner of Main and Canal streets sat empty and silent. Then Gilford musician Daniel McLaughlin took up the lease, and opened NH Vintage Vinyl on July 1, ushering in a new era of musical mercantile into downtown.

“It’s going great,” McLaughlin said of his soft opening. “It’s pretty surreal, especially with it being a store in the past I wanted to do so much with.”

During his three-year tenure as a record seller at Greenlaw's, McLaughlin started forming his own visions for the business, but was initially unable to execute those goals.

“Greenlaw's had all the same space and potential, but they didn't have the drive as much because they were in the second half of their business career,” McLaughlin said. “It was really tough to get them to do the ideas I had when I was with them, so when they were selling it, I said, ‘we've got to get in here!’”

McLaughlin's store specializes in vinyl, both of the vintage and new variety, as well as turntables, stereos and other media players. Customers can also purchase cassettes and CDs. For the truly curious, McLaughlin sells media beyond audio.

“We sell pretty much any music media,” McLaughlin said. “I got VHS [tapes] over there of old concert footage and interviews. There’s a bunch of stuff like that that got put out in the '90s that people just can’t watch anymore.”

Vintage Vinyl intends to go beyond selling just media. McLaughlin wants to sell instruments, accessories and amplifiers on consignment. The building will also reclaim its identity as a hub for music lessons.

“We're going to be teaching lessons in the basement,” McLaughlin said. “Right now I have Ryan Lemay who's going to be helping me out. I also know a record collector who's a musician who plays in a band around here and he's got a couple of friends coming in as well.”

In addition to starting his own business, McLaughlin says he hopes to contribute to the ongoing revitalization of downtown. Most locals here know that the downtown area can be rather sleepy, especially on weekends. But new business owners like McLaughlin are in the process of making the area more of a destination by making more weekend-friendly hours.

“I feel like sometimes Sundays, the sidewalks roll up around here, and that's one of the better retail days, especially for music, and the ol' blue collar consumer usually gets Saturdays and Sundays off,” McLaughlin said. “I just hated to see an area I love and knew could do well on Sundays be so dead. So I'm going to try to be open on Sundays, even if it's just 10 to 4 to start.”

With any luck, Vintage Vinyl will become one of the new corner stones of downtown Laconia.