Vinyl Chickie | photo by Megan Matuzak for WXPN
Vinyl Chickie is a record store with community at its heart
The new Glenside boutique is the latest venture of veteran Philly music photographer Lisa Schaffer.
Lisa Schaffer is a veteran music photographer, a DJ, and now, a record store owner. On May 18th, she opened the doors to Vinyl Chickie, a shop on Glenside’s Mt. Caramel Avenue, which borrows its name from Schaffer’s DJ moniker. She describes opening the store as a means to reconnect to her community.
“My social life was my work, all the things that I was doing was keeping me away from my neighborhood and my family,” Schaffer says. “I’ve never really connected with the people in my community because I’ve never been able to find like-minded people. And I knew that they were out there.”
Even so, since Schaffer calls Glenside home, word about music or photography happenings finds its way to her. She learned about a new spot for live music called The CO Lab; the venue’s first show featured Brian Langan, a musician and visual artist, and designer of the original Vinyl Chickie logo for Schaffer’s DJ business.
Schaffer was at a graduation party earlier that night, and the show had just ended when she arrived, unfortunately, but, Lisa made a point to thank Rhiannon Punzo, owner of The CO Lab and the gift boutique The Dovetail, for bringing local music to her community. She said they ended up talking for a long time about each of their roots, including Lisa’s love of music and vinyl. Turns out Punzo was already familiar with her photography.
“I am an event photographer,” Schaffer says. “I photograph people, so: weddings, corporate – lots of corporate – three different school districts, Women’s Law Project, Ceasefire, PA. Just anywhere that I was needed.” And, of course, live music and promo images of local musicians. “Word of mouth spread, and [now] it is like 25 years of photographing.”
Summer passed and shows at The CO Lab started up again in September. Schaffer went to their first event, where Punzo greeted her with “‘Say, I’ve been waiting for you to come back.’”.
“She [Punzo] didn’t reach out to me. She just waited for me to show back up and she goes, ‘Come outside with me.’ And we walk out into the parking lot and she points to a building across the train track,’” Schaffer recounts, “And she goes, ‘We’re moving there. We have a lot of different spaces. You want to open [a] record store?’”
Punzo needed to know her decision in about a month; Schaffer did not need that long to decide.
Schaffer grew up on a collection of 8-Tracks curated by two big Led Zeppelin fans: her parents. She was into hair metal, then 90s hip-hop and reggae. When writable CDs became a thing, Schaffer said she was “that kid” who made one-of-a-kind mix CDs for everyone she knew. Starting in retail when she was 13, whenever she was working somewhere she could choose the music, she brought in a new mix CD every shift.
“I went with a new mix because that’s what entertained me the most,” she recalls.. “I would introduce everyone that worked there and people that came in to new music. That’s kind of my origin without knowing where that would ever lead me but, it was my passion to be able to share music and make that list.”
Lisa dialed in on vinyl DJ-ing in 2015 and would frequent Hideaway Music in Chestnut Hill to pick up records (and eventually, a job). She got a weekly residency at South Bowl and so she was picking 45s from the $1 bin often enough that a friendship with the owner blossomed and later she picked up shifts at the shop.
“I definitely did a lot, and learned a lot, and fell in love with being a record dealer,” she says. “I worked retail my whole life and I understood working with the public.” Looking back, “One of the greatest feelings was watching people shop, and of all ages. Seeing what they came up with and having conversations about what their choices were during the pandemic…it saved my ass.”
When she decided to branch out on her own with Vinyl Chickie, numerous kismet moments occurred in less than a year after the paperwork was signed to the soft opening on her birthday. People in the community reached out to work on aspects of the store with Schaffer. The shop got a facelift: a new floor, central air, and a top notch sound system. Plus, she brought Langan back to update the logo which she quickly turned around to a banner for the window, a stamp for the bags, and four different stickers. Soon, according to Schaffer, there will be a Vinyl Chickie magnet.
The left wall of Vinyl Chickie Record Shoppe & Other Delights is painted a vibrant orange that stretches back to The CO Lab’s doorway. A wall with a four-pane window splits the shop floor into two sections: a main floor and a listening station. Schaffer chose a neon blue for the window trim.
Eve Hoyt, a neon artist, contributed a magenta 45 adapter sign to Vinyl Chickie, which added to the nostalgic late 80s PeeWee’s Playhouse vibe in the shop. “The neon sign showed up by an artist who lives down the block,” says Schaffer. “She carried it over and said ‘I would like to hang it in your store than sell it.’ I’m never ever taking it down.”
As the shop took shape, she knew the friends and music industry people she wanted to work with on getting the space just right. Some of them were more proactive than expected.
Peter Brown of Loudo Guitars reached out shortly after Schaffer signed her lease in fall of 2024. Brown wanted to build the vinyl shelves for Vinyl Chickie in a collaborative way. They agreed on a trade and she provided the wood and supplies. He painted the interior of the bottom shelves a neon aqua where crates filled with more vinyl would go. Brown got the intended contrast he hoped for, the results are striking and just work.
Max Ochester of the Brewerytown Records label gave her his old store’s DJ booth on a long-term loan.
Schaffer set up the hard shell cases she already had along with her turntables on it, and the booth is neatly wallpapered with upcycled 45s by Vinylux. It is mobile – Lisa liked the idea of having it on wheels – and she hosted her first live DJ set on Father’s Day.
A walk-in service that was popular during Vinyl Chickie’s first month was-and is-buying records from collections, big or small. While Schaffer and I were talking, an older man came in to see if she bought records – the second visitor who asked about this during our conversation. He described an otherworldly collection of 45s from a jukebox repairman plus a substantial vinyl collection that he had just inherited. Schaffer answered every question he had in a super zen manner and told him to bring in a sample box.
“I make house visits too,” Schaffer said to him and he appeared to be relieved. As he left and without much effort, she picked back up where her last sentence left off.
Vinyl Chickie Record Shoppe & Other Delights is where different pieces of Schaffer life meet: a local support ethos storewide, closely curated genre categories, and music supplies to sell like – blank cassettes, guitar strings and vinyl outer sleeves – as well as stickers, pins, buttons, and jewelry that revolve around vinyl records primarily by local people.
It definitely feels like Schaffer always has Vinyl Chickie on the mind, thinking about ways to add a little extra sunshine to someone’s day when they are shopping, perusing, or passing through to get to The CO Lab or The Dovetail. Schaffer has been a collector of things in her own life and brought some of those things into the record shop from home. Because of that she has thrown out a wide net.
“I am just like driving around and I have these silly little ideas,” Schaffer joked, “Like I’m driving down the street one day and I’m like the vinyl…chickie. Right? So I’m like, maybe Vinyl Chickie is a little chicken.”
She held the puffy baby chicks with her hands cupped together and gleefully pointed out the mini records they had on them made by miniature artist Melanie’s Mini Place. “When there’s a little kid in here and they’re giving their parents a hard time, I have things for them to hold.”
Schaffer is intentional about the store’s curation and organization as well.
“Everything has a place, you know? I have a rare gem section which snowballs into the just-in stuff, but I put that right next to the local section because I really want people to discover local music,” she said, “I mean, we’re really close to Philly and Philadelphia’s music scene has my entire heart.”
Schaffer views opening up a record store as a continuation, like layers on top of the many others. She has placed “easter eggs” around the shop and takes great care in finding talented artists in the area who sell cool music-inspired tchotchkes, and elevating those in her community who could get a lot out of the space.
“All I want to do is just support everybody,” Schaffer said. “Like all these people that have these little niches and outlets, I want them to be a part of something bigger.”
Lisa’s ideas like the mini chicks, floor pillows, or step stools at the end of each vinyl shelf for reaching the records displayed on the wall are for the customer. Hanging up her favorite concert pics she shot, like Taylor Swift and Erykah Badu – that was for her.
“This is the first time I’ve ever printed my photos out. I knew I wanted the history of…” Schaffer trails off. “I don’t want to say the history of me, because that doesn’t really make any sense. I wanted this to be like my second home, and I wanted a kind of self-portrait.” +
