Klang Tone Records, owned by Sean Roe, has moved to a new premises in Lansdown, Stroud, coinciding with this weekend’s Hidden Notes Festival.
Though the official opening won’t take place until next month, Sean is opening the doors tomorrow (Saturday, September 23rd) to host Andrew Heath at the morning Breakfast Club session at 10am, followed by Flamenco Thief at 1pm.
Sean is in the process of moving around 6,000 records, CDs, casettes and books from the existing shop in London Road: “The old shop is over two floors and with a mezzanine so it meant I had to carry boxes of records up and down stairs if I was going to a record fair.
“The new place has a shop window onto the street and more passing trade, and it’s got a neighbourhood shop feel which I wanted in the first place,” said Sean.
The shop was formerly home to Cotswold Sewing and Knitting Machines, run by Stroud legend the late Edna Powell.
Sean’s wife, Ritsuko Hidaka, who runs Paganhill Vintage, helped with the design of the new store and has a display of vintage goods. Their son Akira designed the distinctive Klang Tone logo, which features on the front wall and was painted by Stroud signwriter Eleanor Harper.
“It’s really impactful. The character of Lansdown needs something more than just a vinyl sign so we commissioned Eleanor to take part of the original cat design, the Klang Tone bit, and she spent three of the hottest days painting it – she is so talented and such a nice person too,” Sean said.
In the next couple of weeks the tables and racks will be moved to the new shop, and the books, CDs and cassettes will go on display. There are also plans to launch an album later this year on a new Klang Tone record label.
The shop will only open sporadically as Sean gets everything in order, ready for the launch on October 7th.
