Vinyl Destination: where music and community meet

By Marlee Card •

In 1958, when Rick Trodella began buying records as a small Saturday morning tradition at 10 years old, it grew into a collection of more than 1,500 records and a full-fledged record store in Fort Lauderdale, Vinyl Destination. Specializing in vintage vinyl from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, the shop also features books and collectibles.

Originally from Boston, Trodella’s love for vinyl only deepened as his collection grew. By 1971, he and his wife had settled in South Florida. With more than 30,000 records filling their space, he decided to find a new way to share his passion.

“I put out two big signs that just said ‘Vinyl Records,’ facing each direction,” Trodella said, recalling how his selling first began outside his house. He started out selling common records of bands like the Carpenters, The Doobie Brothers and Fleetwood Mac, at affordable prices.

“At that time, I was just selling all the records that I had for $2,” Trodella said.

But as his collection kept growing and sales continued to increase, he realized he needed a new approach.

“At one point, I had 30,000 records,” Trodella said. “I asked my wife, ‘What should we do? Sell them all at once or open a record store?’ She was game with the store idea, so here we are.”

He said running a record store requires a passion for music, a dedication to quality and a large inventory.

“[The vinyls] are inspected one by one. They’re cleaned if they need cleaning. They get a new inner sleeve, if they have a bad one,” Trodella said. “Our job is to keep the bins full with good, interesting products. Clean, priced well, give good service and in a friendly atmosphere that people want to be in.”

Vinyl Destination is run by Trodella, his wife, Mindy, and Cristo Roldan. Each share a love and appreciation for music history and record collecting. For Roldan, the shop is more than just a record shop, it’s a place of discovery and connection.

“It’s your discovery,” Roldan said. “That’s what is so beautiful about sharing music, too, is to be able to put someone else onto [an artist] you think is so good.”
Roldan said that collecting records is a continuous learning experience and the store serves as a place for community.
“It’s like my sanctuary here. It’s a place to go for people to meet up and interact [with vinyls] and socialize,” Roldan said. “At the end of the day, you’re all there for the common understanding that you love music.”

The prices of his vinyl records range from $10 to $30, and vary based on the condition and rarity. From classics like Miles Davis, The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Carole King and Minnie Riperton, Trodella says he strives to meet the needs of all collectors.

“I have everything. You’ve got to have a little of everything here to suit all the different tastes that come around,” Trodella said.

In today’s digital era, students and music-lovers have instant access to any song through streaming. Trodella pointed out that while music is readily available on phones, it doesn’t compare to the experience of owning and listening to physical records.

“When the people come here for the vinyl, they want to be engaged,” Trodella said. “They want to be involved in the listening experience and the whole experience. Sometimes people buy a record just from the cover.”

Trodella’s love for music started early. Starting from a young age, he worked at a local record store in Boston where he developed a deep appreciation for records. Frequent visits to a nearby radio station allowed him to watch disc jockeys at work behind the glass, inspiring him, his brother, and a friend to create their own station.

“We wanted to be disc jockeys so we built this little radio station in the basement of our house, had two turntables, a board, a console where everything operates from, reel tape, fake ads and all that kind of things,” Trodella said.

During college, his experience in radio helped him reopen the college radio station at Tufts University, where his record collection began to expand. He said there were many benefits of working at the station, including exclusive receptions with artists.

“I would go make the rounds all over the Boston area to all the various record companies, get their new product and get to know the promotion people very well,” Trodella said. “But the best benefit of all was when I would go get the records from promotion people that said, ‘here’s a copy for the station and here’s a copy for you.’ So my record collection went from 200 to 1,500.”

For more information:
Address: 937 NE 19th Ave, Fort
Lauderdale, FL 33304
Phone: 954-530-8415
Visit: @vinyl.destination.ftl
on Instagram
Hours:
Wednesday – Saturday
Noon to 8 p.m.
Sunday
Noon – 6 p.m.