The Minneapolis Record Show began with two Minnesotans’ passion for collecting music, and about a decade ago, co-promoters Richard Franson and Tim Schloe decided it was time to bring vinyl records back.

“I think vinyl is here to stay, definitely for a long period of time,” Franson said at a Saturday pop-up Minneapolis Record Show, which was at the Midtown Global Market for the first time.

“I’m in stores from here to Omaha, Nebraska and my vinyl is selling. And I can only tell you what I’m seeing and it’s flourishing. People are buying vinyl,” Franson said.

The duo puts together a group of vinyl dealers for each show “to keep vinyl alive,” Franson told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

Aside from the usually popular classic rock, jazz and blues tracks, the Midtown Global Market venue inspired “more of an international flavor,” he added.

“I think my first record was ‘Journey to the Center of the Mind’ by The Amboy Dukes,” remembered Garrett Peterson, a longtime frequenter of the Minneapolis music scene, as he browsed the albums on display Saturday. “I, personally, was in about 6th grade when I started thinking, ‘I should have some of these.'”

That was in the mid-1960s, Peterson said, and ever since, his collection has continued to grow.

Nowadays, his library has “oh my God, thousands” of records, he said.

“I was moving and people were like, ‘Why do you still have these?’ Because there were so many of them and they’re heavy, and I said, ‘Because they sound as good as they ever did,'” Peterson laughed. “Can’t give those up.”

People who grew up in the post-vinyl world have also contributed to its rebirth in popularity. In 2023, vinyl surpassed CD sales for the first time since the late 1980s.

“It’s almost like a love affair rekindled,” said former radio DJ Spider Hamilton, 00, the self-proclaimed “Original Ol’Skooler.”

“When the needle hits, and you hear that sound, it just, it hits me right here, you know,” he said, putting his hand over his heart.

The sound of a record is something that digital music just can’t replace, Hamilton said.

“There’s still that vinyl sound, that vinyl crackin’ and poppin’ that, you know, people remember and people love,” he continued. “Vinyl will be a mainstay because vinyl is the original love affair.”

“It’s not just about the internet or Spotify,” Franson added. “It’s about, they want to be able to see it, feel touch it, hang it on a wall, play it on a turntable…Let’s just keep vinyl alive.”