Over his 40 years in business, Chris Zingg, owner of In Your Ear Records Ltd., has weathered the highs and lows of the industry – the downward plunge in sales that record stores saw with the rise of music streaming in the early 2000s, and the resurgence of vinyl in recent years.
A mainstay in downtown Warren for more than 15 years, In Your Ear has moved across states and weathered various industry trends before making its home in the East Bay.
It started in Boston in 1982, with “three record collectors looking for a way to enjoy what they were already doing,” Zingg said.
The record store saw early success and eventually expanded to Providence’s College Hill neighborhood. But over the years, industrywide turbulence and rising rental costs in both cities made those locations unsustainable.
At one point, the record store closed its doors completely. Then Zingg saw a new opportunity at 462 Main St. in Warren in 2006.
While vinyl sales were still in a slump at the time, Warren offered more-affordable storefronts, and by the mid-2010s, Zingg began to notice a renewed interest in records, which he said has become even more pronounced in the past two years.
The growth in business was enough that in 2021, Zingg opened a second In Your Ear location in Warren at nearby 99 Water St.
While many businesses’ finances were hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, In Your Ear had a boom in business, Zingg said – between spring and fall of 2020 in particular, “our mail orders exploded,” he said, as customers realized they were going to be stuck at home for a while.
Curbing another COVID-19 era trend, the store also hasn’t struggled to hold onto its small team of employees.
“Most people are here for love of music and the environment,” Zingg said. “One of the most interesting parts of my job is being able to talk to someone one-on-one about what they like and what they’re looking for, and being able to send them in a new direction for music that they might not have found otherwise.”
Each storefront serves its own niche, with the Main Street location hosting many of In Your Ear’s discount purchases, while the Water Street storefront attracts customers looking for rarities and other high-end record finds.
Combined, the two locations include tens of thousands of records, Zingg said, with offerings ranging from releases by today’s top 40 artists to highly sought collector’s items. It’s the latter type of find that Zingg finds most rewarding, he said, recalling a recent standout – a 1967 pressing of “The Velvet Underground & Nico,” featuring Andy Warhol’s banana print – valued at around $2,000.
“I don’t see records slowing down anytime soon,” he noted, adding that he hopes to someday see a return of record stores such as In Your Ear hosting local and national music performances as this growth continues.
Shoppers from the business’s older days have stuck around as well, Zingg said, noting that he still gets customers who will tell him they started buying from In Your Ear when they were college students visiting the old Providence location.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years, but it’s been fun the whole time,” he said, adding, “it means a lot to know you’ve had a positive impact on someone’s life and that they appreciate what you’re doing.”
OWNER: Chris Zingg
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Record store
LOCATION: 462 Main St. and 99 Water St., Warren
EMPLOYEES: Three to four
YEAR FOUNDED: 1982
ANNUAL REVENUE: WND