To make their business dreams a reality, Adam and Danielle Rosen tapped into a bit of the new and the old. For years, the couple has been selling records online out of their space in Eden Prairie, growing to the point where they have been able to take their online store and add a brick and mortar counterpart. The couple recently opened Shuga Records in northeast Minneapolis (at the former site of the Minnesota Center for Photography, 165 13th Ave. NE).

Many would be surprised that someone would open a record store in an age when most obtain their music via iPod, but stores like Shuga are testament to the staying power of vinyl. For the Rosens the business came about by accident, literally – it started with a car accident.

Adam and Danielle moved to Chicago where he pursued DJ gigs, however a car accident left him out of work and medical bills began to mount. He started to sell his dance records to pay off bills.
“It kind of just grew from there,” said Adam.

At the time it wasn’t a lot of money, he’d get maybe $300 a week in record sales: Now they hope to take in that same dollar figure every day.

Danielle, who was working as a nanny, also took a side gig selling vintage clothing online. More than five years ago, the couple moved from Chicago to Eden Prairie to be closer to family (Danielle’s from Edina, Adam from Glen Lake). But, over time, their Eden Prairie home and rented warehouse space became inundated with his massive record collection.

According to his online store (stores.shop.ebay.com/Shuga-Records) “Shuga Records has an inventory of nearly 400,000 highest-quality recordings.

“Shuga stocks many of the bands that got Adam hooked on DJing as a teenager, from Underworld and Nine Inch Nails to the Future Sound of London. But its specialties have expanded to include the widest range of audiophile pressings from classical labels, 1960’s folk and psych, and rare first editions by some of rock’s biggest legends, as well as the kind of esoterica DJs crave, from spoken word records and private-label pressings to regional rarities, novelty albums, reissues and new collector vinyl.”

Selling records

With the death of pop giant Michael Jackson, a lot of fans may have been reaching for their dusty record bins last week. Danielle noted that there was a sudden rush on Jackson’s material – “pretty much all of our online stuff sold right away.”

But Shuga Records goes beyond just serving buyers looking to be nostalgic. Many of those who purchase from their online store are collectors from Italy and Asia, noted Adam. Others may be DJ’s looking for material to sample. Still others may be those who just enjoy listening to vinyl.

“There’s just something really fun about it,” said Danielle.
There are so many days when she and other staff members will look through stacks of records “and just laugh.”

Danielle said those who walk in to the store come from “ pretty much all walks of life.”

Young kids have biked over and found the free bin. She recalls seeing some girls who came in to pick out records for their moms for Mothers Day.

The store is not specializing in one kind of music, but will offer a lot of dance music. There will be some CDs and even tapes for sale, along with vintage posters, the free bin of records, turn tables and other music accessories.

“We really want to support local music,” she added.

To that end, the store will include a stage for shows or screenings and its walls will feature a rotating crop of local artists: It’s hard to miss Shuga Records right now, local artists painted a giant mural on the side of the building and the plan is to rotate out the mural on the west side of the building every year.

The online store was a way to make money, but the bricks and mortar location is a labor of love for the Rosens. And they’ve got nothing but glowing reviews of the community around in the arts district of northeast. The couple plans to move to northeast Minneapolis as soon as they can sell their house.

“We wanted to do something fun and just something positive, at a time when there’s not that much positive going on,” said Danielle.
“I don’t think we could’ve picked a better area to do that.”