New Record Store Set To Open On Amsterdam Avenue

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A longtime Upper West Side record collector is leaving finance behind to open a neighborhood record store this summer.

Owner and Upper West Sider Hunter Brammer plans to open Sweet Peanut Records on Amsterdam Avenue and West 82nd Street in mid-July.

"I've always sort of had this dream of opening my own shop," Brammer told Patch. The shop is named for Brammer's chocolate Labrador. "When the space came up on Amsterdam, it just felt like good timing."

Brammer has spent more than a decade collecting records while working in finance, buying collections at auctions and selling vinyl online through Discogs and eBay. Over time, his apartment filled with thousands of albums.

"I keep joking that my wife needed me to open a shop just to get them all out of the apartment," he said.

The Upper West Side resident said opening locally was an easy decision.

"The Upper West Side has such a rich history in the music scene, and I felt like the people around here deserve to have a new fun spot," Brammer said.

The store will carry both new and used records, with an emphasis on jazz, funk, soul, classic rock, new wave and indie music. Prices will range from bargain-bin finds to collectible pressings, though Brammer said most albums will sell for between $10 and $15.

Plans include listening parties, DJ sets, live performances and collaborations with neighborhood businesses. Brammer said he'd also like to showcase smaller labels and local artists.

"What I'm most excited about is getting to meet more people in the neighborhood," he said. "Just since I took over the lease, I've probably met more people in the last month than I had in the last five years."

Sweet Peanut Records will be located at 463 Amsterdam Ave., in the storefront previously occupied by Chalait.

"To be able to have a place to expose people to new music — or old music — and be able to sit down and listen to a record front to back, I think has a lot of value," he said.

Know of a business opening or closing in Manhattan? Email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.