Vinyl Renaissance & Audio in Overland Park to close at year’s end
Vinyl Renaissance & Audio begins the long process of winding down. // Photo by Brock Wilbur
Vinyl Renaissance & Audio [9038 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park] is set to close on New Year’s Eve of this year, after decades of presence across the metro serving as a hub for music lovers and the greater scene.
Dan & Eva Phillips started selling records out of a Johnson County store in 2005, after several years of pedaling their wax online and out of their home. While they’ve bounced locations a few times, the Metcalf location has been their main home for the last few years, where there are currently more than 50k records and CDs available along with various music adjacent memorabilia.
The closure comes as Dan Phillips, now approaching 72 years of age, is ready for his next adventure.
Vinyl Renaissance & Audio begins the long process of winding down. // Photo by Brock Wilbur
Dan Phillips shared the following in a public Facebook post on Wednesday, November 8, 2023.
“When one hits their 70s, you’re constantly reminded of the old maxim to stop and smell the roses. Having reached my seventies, the concept keeps pulling at me more and more. So after over 20 years of operating Vinyl Renaissance, I think it’s time to stop and smell the roses. As a consequence, beginning this Friday November 10, Vinyl Renaissance will begin the process of selling its inventory, fixtures and collectibles with the goal to close by the end of the year.
We will be beginning our markdowns this Friday on both records and equipment. Our store decorations and fixtures will also be available for sale. As we have over 5,000 records and CDs in back stock, we will continue to replenish our stock until everything is available for sale.
As our intention is to close on December 31, gift certificates and trade credits will need to be used by then.
I want to personally thank our thousands of customers for their support over the years. Interacting with them has contributed to making operating Vinyl Renaissance one of the high points of my life. To the artists who have graced our stages with their talents, thanks for being part of Vinyl Renaissance history. For the employees who worked for us over the past 20 years, I have nothing but affection, admiration and gratitude for your devotion to Vinyl Renaissance and tolerance of the demands and vagaries of working in a retail store.
I hope to see as many of you as possible as we wind down our operations to personally thank you.”
Friday at 11 a.m., the shop opened with it’s new running sales with large discounts, especially on purchases of more than five items. The plan, according to Eva Phillips, is for those sales to increase over the next few months, as they hope the store will close on New Year’s Eve perhaps completely empty.
The sale will also start to include more of the shops decorations, like signed merch and ephemera including posters, socks, candles, furniture and more.
Vinyl Renaissance & Audio begins the long process of winding down. // Photo by Brock Wilbur
No new inventory is being accepted, including the buying of used vinyl. By extension, the shop will not be participating in the upcoming Record Store Day Black Friday 2023 on Nov. 24. They will be open, according to Eva, but unfortunately no new records, so maybe don’t come camp out early that morning.
The Pitch was there for the Friday opening, as folks and friends rushed the shop began immediately showing their support for all the good Vinyl Renaissance has brought to KC over the years. Did we personally completely all of our Christmas shopping in one trip? Kinda sorta. We left a few copies of Taylor Swift and Bloc Party and Death From Above 1979 for those who follow us, but you should hurry in while you can.
On our way out, Eva suggested that as a forever hopeful, she wasn’t sure this meant the end of Vinyl Renaissance & Audio. There’s a few months remaining on the store’s time there, and certainly the Phillips team would be open to an offer if someone wanted to buy one of the city’s best physical music stores. If a Pitch reader happened to be the next owner, to keep this party going, we wouldn’t have our feelings hurt…
Vinyl Renaissance & Audio begins the long process of winding down. // Photo by Brock Wilbur
