Young cousins turn love of vinyl into White Sulphur Springs record store

By Jenny Harnish, RealWV

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Cousins Josie Hedrick, 17, and Karson Whanger, 14, have been hanging out most of their lives. When Whanger started getting into vinyl records after seeing them on TikTok a few years ago, Hedrick’s interest was piqued. 

“It’s about bringing back physical media,” Hedrick said. “Cassette tapes, CDs — something not on your phone that you can sit down and listen to without getting interrupted by text messages.”

The Greenbrier East High School student said many of her friends are getting into records, too.

Now, with help from Whanger’s parents, the cousins have opened Spin City Records in White Sulphur Springs.

Whanger collects records and has been to around 200 record stores on travels with his parents, including stores in New York City and Philadelphia.

He said the idea to open a store came to him while sitting at Applebee’s. 

“Last year, a billion dollars’ worth of vinyl records were sold,” he said. He said records sales hadn’t hit that number since 1988. In fact, revenue from vinyl sales hadn’t hit that number since 1983, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. 

Spin City Records offers new and used records from a variety of genres including rock, rap, pop, metal, jazz, country and R&B. There is a listening room for customers to hang out and listen to records, and a wall for customers to sign their names. 

Karson’s mother, Candice Whanger, said it’s the younger generation that is keeping records alive. 

“We’ve seen a lot of record stores. It’s pretty cool. We’ve been to 200 record stores, and they all have the same story. They’re all small businesses that try to bring vinyl records to their area, and the younger generation is what keeps them open.”

She hopes the store will be a place for her son and niece to learn to run a business — to manage money, get out of the house and meet people they normally wouldn’t meet. 

“We want to make it a place for kids to come more than anything. We want to give them something to do besides sitting on their phones.”

Spin City Records is located at 126 Palm Beach Ave, White Sulphur Springs.

Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.