Record Store Day 'Bigger Than Christmas' At Beverly Records

CHICAGO, IL — While independent record stores across the globe will be celebrated as part on Record Store Day this Saturday, April 21, a neighborhood fixture that last year celebrated its 50th anniversary knows what's in store for them.

"It's the biggest day of the year," said Joe Lemus, manager of Beverly Records, 11612 S. Western Ave. in the city's Beverly/Morgan Park neighborhood. "It's bigger than Christmas."

The city of Chicago is no desert when it comes to good record storms. A number of them are still playing strong on the North Side, in Hyde Park and in Pilsen.

But when it comes to the Far South Side of the city and south suburbs, the Western Avenue spot owned by the Dreznes family since 1967 is the only place to go within reasonable driving distance.

"There's a good 70 or 80 people in line before we open," Lemus said of Record Store Day, an international phenomenon that's gained in popularity every year since it began in 2007. "People will camp out the night before outside the store."

Once the record lovers get inside when the store opens at 8 a.m. on Saturday, they'll find used records, aka "open vinyl," at a 20 percent off discount.

Some big name artists like The Beatles, AC/DC and Queen are a part of the section that will be marked off on Saturday.

Beverly Records Owner Jack Dreznes says Record Store Day rules indicate that some limited issue records will only be available on that day and that customers cannot buy duplicate items from artists.

That's something Lemus points to as an advantage for Beverly Records over the other record stores in the city.

"We carry more out of print records... the stuff you can't find anywhere else," he said. "And if we don't have it, we will find it for you."

Lemus says the line out the door will start to let up a little after 11 a.m., but the store keeps busy throughout the afternoon "because people will go to other record shops first and when they can't find what they want they come here."

Dreznes says the day-long celebration is like "a family reunion."

"It's about the people spilling around looking through records, seeing people they know from other stores and talking with each other," he said.

"We know some of the people who wait in line. We know their names by heart by now because they are here every year."

With temperatures expected to be in the 30s, it could be a cold morning for those waiting outside on Western before the store opens. But another record-loving Beverly business will be out there with them warming them up.

Dreznes says B-Sides Coffee & Tea, the coffee shop that opened at the other end of the neighborhood near the 99th Street Rock Island station, will have a coffee stand outside the record shop before it opens.

Inside, it will be a bit of a blast from the past for anyone who enters. The shelves are packed with records, an old school phenomenon that will never go out of style.

"This generation's kids are finding their parents' and grandparents' records and record players and find they are smooth and easy to listen to," Lemus said. "It has become a cool thing again, and there's nothing digital about it."

Photos by Tim Moran / Patch