Even if someone were to miss the pink doors that stand to introduce Union Station, the music that can be heard on the street definitely would.
Buried in the heart of downtown Fort Worth, awaits the new record shop. Its owner Patrick McGrew’s ambition is to bring people together from different generations and bond over something everyone can enjoy-music.
“People will be walking down the street and will be like ‘what is that,’ and then come in. Music is what catches their attention first and something I want to highlight it more,” McGrew says. “Music is something that can always bring people together. No matter what your background is, I feel like everyone can relate to some kind of music.”
A Jackson Five vinyl was the first vinyl before his collection grew and what it took for McGrew to find his groove with the art of vinyl. Members of his family would gift him a vinyl around holidays, encouraging his fascination.
“Vinyls, for me, are the best quality of music. Listening to it on the phone or CD player, the quality is just not the same. Popping a vinyl on and letting it play, I feel like those were the days when music was really good,” McGrew says. “That era was really important to me and what I grew up on. My parents didn’t play music, but they loved music and played it around the house. There was always music growing up. I had a nice collection of vinyls and it intrigued me, I thought they were something special.”
From there, he built his own collection which fostered the idea of having a vinyl shop. For almost a year, McGrew did pop-up shops around Fort Worth, showcasing vinyl as well as his own available fashion designs. The shop helped him fuse two passions of his into one place which others liked as well. Sundance Square approached him about a location to be used for only a pop-up shop, but McGrew became attached and wanted to take up permanent residence.
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Kelsey Shoemaker
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Kelsey Shoemaker
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Kelsey Shoemaker
“When I first walked in I thought this was perfect. Everything that I had envisioned was this,” he says. “I felt like this is where I’m supposed to be. I love it here and don’t want to leave.”
The initial move was to create the brand and take it outside of the metroplex and state, but McGrew knew he needed to establish the first shop here. After some failures and a conversation with his dad, he guided himself to the belief that Fort Worth was the best place to start. His dad told him that if you don’t have the support from your home and community, someone from out of town will notice and it won’t feel genuine.
“It was important for me to establish at home first. And of course, the bigger dream is to branch out and have different locations in different areas, but for me, home is most important because it’s home,” McGrew said. “I wanted to establish my brand and what I wanted to accomplish at home before branching out. Fort Worth has my heart. I wouldn't want to start a store anywhere else.”
The business evolved and so did McGrew who didn’t know everything about the kinks in running a business. He learned everything from little to more impactful lessons on running his own shop which included feedback and voices from the community on what they thought.
“It was a long journey and I was frustrated and I almost quit a thousand times, but now, I come in days when it’s quiet and sit back and reflect on everything…I’m really here. I was trying to skip steps, but the process is definitely important and necessary. Once you get those loyal customers and those loyal people who are important, it’s important to make them feel like they’re part of it as a family.”
One of his main principles for the shop is to make it feel like a close-knit family. Once the door is opened, he invites anyone in the community to come in and put their favorite vinyl on or even sit and work on something.
