“My mom always had music in the house when we were growing up. Whether it was music from the 1940’s or from her own band’s, music was a big part of my life growing up.”

Jack Kelley’s record store in Ashland, Ohio is full, from wall to wall, with vinyl records.

The smell of incense floods the air, something store owner, Kelley recently added to his inventory. Blues music plays in the background, providing shoppers with some easy listening while they move about the store.

Thin carpet floors accompany the several shelves packed full with records. Empty album covers hang on the walls, showing signs of a forgotten pastime. The awkward sound of a security system bell rings every time a new customer enters the store.

There are two entrances, one in the front and one in the rear. The front entrance faces Ashland’s busiest street, Main St. The rear entrance of store is the end point of the nearly 30,000 records the are located in “Kelley’s Vinyl.”

At one end of the store, you seem to be secluded, only surrounded by vinyl records and a few security cameras. At the front of store, there is much more action; music playing and people searching for new records. That is where Kelley spends most of his time, sorting through new arrivals and organizing his massive inventory of records.

Opened in 2009, three different rooms make up Kelley’s 126 East Main St. location, each room filled with shelves and walls of records. 

The first room, where Kelley spends most of time behind the cash register, is the biggest of the three rooms. 

This is where the “new arrivals” and other better quality records are kept. 

The back two rooms are where the two-dollar records are stored, some duplicates, but all available for purchase.

What first started as a collectibles store, has now turned into the largest record collections of any record store in seven counties. 

Kelley first used the shop as place for customers to purchase sports collectibles, trading cards, as well as records. While you can still find some collectibles other than records at the store, the store’s main feature is the overwhelming amount of vinyl that occupies much of the space in the store.

As he quietly roams the store, Kelley has “been around the block,” and has the experiences to tell you about it. An avid vinyl record collector for nearly 50 years, Kelley’s passion since 1959 was music, when a 10-year-old Kelley bought his first album, “Loop-De-Loop,” by Johnny Thunder.

Kelley bought that first album for $3.20. Today, that same album is valued at nearly $250 dollars.

However, it hasn’t been just records that has made the 67-year-old Ashland native into the man he is today. It’s the experiences and stories that have come with his time spent collecting and acquiring the near 30,000 vinyl records located in his main street store.

After all this time, Kelley has become the go-to guy when it comes to buying or selling vintage vinyl records in the Ashland area.

Since his early days of collecting, Kelley’s love for music has continued to grow year-by-year. As a young boy, Kelley would take the money he earned from his local paper route and go down to Cleveland Avenue to buy 45’s.

“I was always an Ashland guy and graduated from Ashland High School in 1967. I bought my first record in 1959, and it just became a passion. When I got into high school I was buying everything that I could afford.”

In May of 1968, Kelley, who was only six months past his 18th birthday, was drafted by the United State Army during the Vietnam War conflict and forced to become a man overnight.

“I remember asking the First Sergeant, you know I had buddies going over to Vietnam and not making it home,” said Kelley. “And he said, ‘Kelley, we’ve got guys over there and we’ve got guys back here, we can’t send everybody over there.”

Kelley completed his basic training in Fort Dix, New Jersey before being stationed in Fort Hood, TX, in November of 1968 to finish his advanced infantry training. Fortunately for Kelley, he was stationed stateside during his two years of Army service from 1968 until 1970 before returning home to Ashland.

While the other men in the barracks would use their free time for a night on the town, Kelley spent his time collecting and getting records to play for the guys back at the barracks. Some of Kelley’s favorites to play during that time were Led Zepplin and other blues rock bands of that era.

“When I finally got established down at Fort Hood, I was the record guy,” said Kelley. “We had a bay of eight guys and I went out and bought a stereo at the local post exchange, took it back to the barracks, and in the evenings…the guys would ask me to play an album and I’d go out and find that album.”

After returning from the Army in 1971, Kelley opened up his first vinyl record shop. Kelley and his friend Paul Leiter became owners of their first record shop on 119 East Main Street. The business only lasted for a little more than a year before the city bought the building. Today, the old record store lays beneath what is now a main street parking lot.

After his first record shop closed, Kelley went back to collecting. He also worked at Abbott Labs and National Latex for 40 years. During this time, he built up his collection in order to open a future record shop. In 2009, he opened Kelley’s Collectibles.

Slowly but surely, Kelley’s massive inventory of vinyl records took over, and the store turned into what is now Kelley’s Vinyl, which now houses nearly 30,000 records. There are roughly 12,000 records that Kelley has yet to even bring down to the store, still excluding his own personal collection of around 2,000 records.

Even with such a large inventory, Jack is still in the market to buy and sell vinyl. Kelley’s bestselling records include artists like the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, and Rush. He even has middle school kids who come down looking for Pink Floyd and the Beatles.

Kelley says his favorite part about owning his own record store is the face-to-face interaction he has with his customers. His goal for the shop is simply recycling vinyl so that the “kids still play it.” As Kelley has mentioned to various guests, the store should be a place where customers can go so that they can continue to play vinyl.

According to an article published by Forbes in April 2016, record sales are at an all-time high, and albums are even sold in mainstream retail stores all across the country. Chains like Barnes & Noble, Urban Outfitters, and Whole Foods now carry albums.

“While most baby boomers likely remember records as being in the $10-$20 range, a new copy of Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA today will run you nearly $40.”

Prices like that are not the case with “Kelley’s Vinyl”. With the goal of exposing vinyl to a new generation, Kelley aims to keep his prices low and affordable, for both experienced collectors, those in Ashland, and those who are just picking up the hobby.

“Most of your Mom and Pop stores, like ours, are in a smaller area in town, and I like being in the old brick and mortar. I like to see the revitalization of Ashland. What cracks me up is I have 8th graders coming in and looking for Pink Floyd,” Kelley said..

The store’s exposure has reached beyond avid collectors, even influencing students on the Ashland University campus.

“His prices are just so low, and the experience is great, which I why I come in as much as I can. I’ve been coming to the shop for a few years now and this is my go-to place for adding to my vinyl collection,” Ashland University Senior Braeden Fitzgerald said.

For experienced collectors, “Kelley’s Vinyl” is a trip down memory lane, which allows them to add to a preexisting collection or add to a hobby they haven’t done in many years. For new collectors, Kelley’s shop allows them to experience a time in American history that is long gone.

While today’s music artists are starting to release albums on vinyl once again, the music industry is still a long way away from the record boom it saw even 25-40 years ago.

Digital music has taken over today’s music scene, but “Kelley’s Vinyl” is restoring a forgotten pastime, one album at a time.

“Kelley’s Vinyl” is located at 126 East Main Street in Ashland. The hours for the store are Monday through Friday 11-5 p.m. and 10-2:30 p.m. on Saturday. “Kelley’s Vinyl” is the largest record store in seven counties, and is the only located in Ashland county.