Record stores like R&B Records in Upper Darby are opening again, facing the unknowns of new health guidelines and a weak economy, writes Dan DeLuca for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In-person visits will mean mandatory masks, plexiglass at checkout, sanitized staff hands handling the delicate merchandise and social distancing.

Many record stores shifted their pandemic focus to Instagram and Facebook to advertise new arrivals, or through the Discogs online marketplace.

But record hunting is best done browsing in person, even in a pandemic.

Then there’s the economic fallout.

Val Shively owns R&B Records in Upper Darby , the “oldies capitol of the world,” where patrons can find 4 million 45s.

He relies almost entirely on mail order, but his customers are nervous about buying.

“Most people are a month, or even a paycheck away from trouble,” he says. “They don’t know what’s going to happen. So you might think that I’d be doing great business, because everybody’s been mandated to stay home, and they’ve got nothing to do except listen to music. But that hasn’t happened.”

Read more about record stores adapting to the pandemic here.

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