A Record Shop Celebrates Three Years of Community Engagement

By Abby Haney, for The Sandy Standard 

Scott Minton, better known as Minty, owns and founded A Record Shop three years ago. It started in a small space with limited selection but now his space has not only expanded, but so has his collection which includes records, tapes, CDs, bluerays, and much more. 

A year and a half into owning the shop, Minty and Mike ‘BDK’ owner of BDK Boardshop decided to combine their spaces. To Minty, skateboarding and music work hand-in-hand, especially with skate videos and music syncing to their video, an important aspect to skaters. 

“I think it really made a lot more sense to have things that live hand and glove in the real world live together in a shop because skateboarding and music are super connected,” Minty said. 

Minty doesn’t own or control the skate portion of the shop but assist in the production. Minty is an avid skater and finds a responsibility in helping fellow skaters. An enjoyable experience of having a combined space has been building a skateboard for a first timer. 

“It’s really cool to help little kids get excited about something new and then realize that they don’t have to be the best at it to have fun,” Minty said. “It’s something that you can just do and it doesn’t matter how good you are, it's just as much fun.” 

The records found inside A Record Shop are mainly second hand. While Minty does buy some of the records, many come from others who donate or trade them in. 

A Record Shop has gone through numerous transformations, starting as his office then becoming a retail shop. Now, Minty views it as a comfort place for not only himself, but for others. When people enter, whether to browse, buy, or sell records, Minty finds people feel relaxed where they can open up, sharing their stories ranging from filled with grief to excitement. 

“Its become almost a place for people to get grounded and a place for people to either intentionally or unintentionally share parts of themselves with me,” Minty said. “I feel like I’m duty bound to receive that because those are the people that are supporting me and those are the people that are looking at a quirky place in the middle of a pretty rural area and saying 'I want to give this place my time. I feel safe here.’”

Music, to Minty and others, share messages within the sounds. Not only does A Record Shop collect the music but it collects stories and messages left behind. 

“These are like messages in bottles that people are throwing out to the world and some of them get found and some of them get lost,” Minty said. “We’re finding the bottles out there instead of those bottles floating up and this is a place that people are gonna come to where all these bottles have washed up and there might be a message here for you.” 

Minty has developed A Record Shop to fit his own ideas about music. Even simple things reflect his dedication and passion to provide a safe space and collection. For example, every record is placed in a plastic sleeve to preserve its integrity. 

“It feels like I took care of you. We cleaned you up, bagged you, gave you a little sticker [and] got you spiffy. There you go, record. And they get a new life,” Minty said. 

One of Minty's favorite things about owning A Record Shop is the inspirational skateboarders who have entered into the shop and the rare records he has found, such as a bootleg Black Sabbath record from South Korea. 

Additionally, Minty enjoys being his own boss which gives him the freedom he loves. 

“These small little magical things happen that remind me this is cool. Not many other people are doing this,” Minty said. 

After three years of advancing A Record Shop, Minty has developed an idea of people’s reasons and emotions when they come in. He has found moments of gut feelings that enhance his enjoyment. For example, he has woken up some morning feeling the need to bring in one of his own personal records, only to discover someone looking for that exact record that exact day in his shop. 

“When people come in here, I have a couple seconds to size up who just walked in the door and what’s going on,” Minty said. “There’s always something that’s not just your standard A to B to C path that people arrive here for.” 

A Record Shop has connected Minty to community members he wouldn’t have otherwise met. 

“I like the people. I’ve become friends with a lot of people here. Met a lot of my community through this.” Minty said. 

Minty has enjoyed the last three years in Sandy of owning A Record Shop and looks forward to the years to come.