SCRANTON — On Feb. 11, Embassy Vinyl on Adams Avenue in Scranton officially closed its record store.
The store closed due to an increase in rent and the owner, R.J. Harrington’s health issues.
“I opened the store because I just was a fan of music and I liked records,” said Harrington. “I was young at the time and I thought it was a great idea so I did it and it was off to the races. My hope was to keep it going for as long as I could.”
Harrington opened Embassy Vinyl in June of 2006 for those who were like him — lovers of music. Although Embassy Vinyl could have relocated due to the rent increase, Harrington’s health issues are the main reason for its closing, as he said it is becoming too much for him to continue taking care of his business.
“The idea of having to move the whole store and start fresh is just something I am not capable of doing right now,” said Harrington.
His store had a lot to offer to the public and different kinds of music for people to enjoy. If a person came into Embassy Vinyl and was unable to find the exact record they were looking for, Harrington tried to find them something that was close.
“It was place where everyone was allowed to come, hang out and try to find the records that they wanted,” said Harrington. “It was not a stuffy environment but a place you could and have fun if you wanted to.”
He claims this is the end of Embassy Vinyl since he has no intentions to reopen in the future or plans to shift to an online business. However, Harrington made other plans for the rest of the records left from his store.
All of Embassy Vinyl’s inventory will be moving to another store called On&On located on 1138 Capouse Ave., Scranton. On&On is not a record store, but an antique marketplace that is recently entering the vinyl record business.
“If you liked what we had here, you stop on over there and eventually they’ll get it all set up and they’ll have basically all our whole inventory,” said Harrington.
On Embassy Vinyl’s last day open to the public, Harrington reflected on his favorite part of owning the store: He will miss the cool music arriving at the store and meeting all the music appreciators.
“My favorite part about owning this business was getting to see the interesting music come through and getting to play it,” said Harrington. “You meet interesting people who would know a lot about music. Most of the time if they were not the snooty type, they were very fun to talk to.”
Over the years Harrington met many different customers. His customers ranged from younger to older people, nice, normal and everything in between.
“It was a wide variety of people intersecting with a shared love of music,” said Harrington.
Embassy Vinyl was the only independent used record store in Scranton, but hopefully it will not be the last.
“You never know, someone might come and fill the void,” said Harrington.
Harrington opened a business he loved and dreamt of ever since he was young. He expressed his gratitude for those who supported Embassy Vinyl from its beginning to its end.
“For the people that have been coming in here for the last 15 years or for the last 15 minutes, thanks for stopping in,” said Harrington. “For those who were real nice, thank you. Those who weren’t as nice, I still thank you.”
