We are so excited to welcome REB Records to Armory Marketplace. From rock to R&B to country, you can find just about anything you are looking for (and maybe some albums you didn’t even know you needed to have!) at REB Records. A partnership between two high school friends and Harford County residents, the vision for REB Records came to life through a decades-long passion for music. The business started a year ago with the purchase of a collection of over 20,000 vinyl records. After months of selling on-line, the partners were selected for a space in Armory Marketplace to launch their dream of a downtown Bel Air record store.
The vision for REB Records is to create a destination music store and grow a place of community where people of all ages can share their appreciation for music and discover old favorites or newly available vinyl. In addition, the store will offer cassettes, DVDs and equipment. REB Records will cater to analog enthusiasts who have been collecting vinyl for years and also to teenagers who are discovering vinyl and analog for the very first time. A wide variety of items are available for sale and with the breadth of knowledge the owners have, both casual listeners and serious collectors will be at home at REB Records.
While you may think of vinyl and record players as a pastime from your youth, there has been a significant resurgence in vinyl production and sales. Small indie record stores with knowledgeable staff have replaced the days of big box music stores. According to the owners, vinyl record sales have grown 32% from 2016 – 2018.
With the growth in the vinyl industry and knowing the closest independent record stores are in Newark, Delaware and Baltimore City, the two friends knew there was a great opportunity for them to combine their many years of retail experience and their passion for music to launch a business in Bel Air. As the only independent record store in Harford County, watch for REB Records to host open mic nights and to have music events at the store in the future.
We hope you’ll join us in welcoming REB Records to our downtown retail community.
Award-winning Armory Marketplace, a business incubator aimed at helping new and emerging businesses get off to a solid start, is a program of the Town of Bel Air Economic Development Department that launched in November 2016.
