THE owner of Vintage Trax in Redditch has decided to call time on her indie record shop after a decade of trading.

Ros Sidaway has “reluctantly” announced the closure of the store, which is located off Church Green East in the town centre.

She says that 2023 has been a challenging year for the business, with the cost of living crisis having an impact on trade. 

Mrs Sidaway, aged 63, said the income has not been covering the overheads for the past few months.

In addition, a bad fall earlier this year kept Mrs Sidaway away from the shop for five months. Her husband David had to step in and keep things ticking over with her sister, Teresa, who has worked with her since Vintage Trax began trading back in 2013.

Mrs Sidaway said: “I had hoped that, with Christmas fast approaching, trade would have begun to pick up but with just over four weeks to go there is no sign of that happening.”

“So, it's with a heavy heart that I have had to take the hard decision to close down the shop early in the New Year.”

A final date for the shop’s closure has yet to be set but at the very latest it will be the end of the first week of February 2024.

Mrs Sidaway intends to keep the Vintage Trax brand alive through pop-ups, record fairs and music and local community events.

In the meantime, a closing-down sale has begun with half-price offers on quality preloved vinyl records, plus further discounts on music gifts and merchandise.

People can Keep up to date via the Vintage Trax Facebook page, ‘Vintage Trax Records Redditch’ Facebook group, ‘vintagetrax redditch’ on Instagram or ‘@VintageTrax’ on X (formerly Twitter) or the website www.VintageTrax.co.uk.