Locals Only

Turns out, I'm a sucker for a brewer who hits the pavement and goes door to door trying to sell his beer. We've had a "local only" policy for our taps sine we've opened and it's turned out to be such a blessing! Not only do we get to support local brewers, but the beer is GOOD!

They have also been known to save us a time or two. Being somewhat new to the beer-ordering business, I have often assumed a brewery would have beer in stock when sometimes they don't. But the small, local brewers always come in to save us! Yesterday, it was Migration Brewing. One of the owners, Eric, totally helped us out when we were about to be short a tap.

We are proud to support our local brewers! Some of our favs are:









And this month, we're trying out a new brewer (to us) called Seven Brides.



One of the owners of Seven Brides came in to our store last week, trying to sell his product. I was immediately in love with the story of his brewery, where three friends with seven daughters between them, started the brewery to help pay for their seven upcoming weddings. How cute! (I said I was a sucker)

We are getting ready to tap their Oatmeal Ellie - which is a light Oatmeal Stout - perfect for the warmer weather! And despite the fact that they are outside of Salem (instead of Portland), we still love to support Oregon Brewers!!

Constant State of Improvement

I think I may have finally gotten the furniture arrangement to a good place!

We wanted to re-arrange the front couch area because where it was before, the people on the couch would be staring directly at the people outside sitting at the picnic tables (when we bring them back out). In our new arrangement, we have made it dual purpose (!) by adding counter seating. One can face in to the counter or turn around and be part of the larger group. I think I am finally happy with it!





We've also added a third high top table. Not only does it make more seating, but the OLCC says we need at least 30 seats in order to have liquor. So adding the table makes exactly 31! Adding the table caused us to have to remove the two large club chairs. But I found a really comfortable replacement! So we still have soft seating - and even better, we have an area for three now instead of just two. People have even been bringing up other chairs to make the area much larger if need be.


One again, we got our coffee table from White Rabbit Vintage!


I love our place! It's so cozy!

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing!

Growing up, I was always more of a wall flower than a dancer at parties. I spent many years in tap, jazz and ballet, yet when it came to large social dances, I remained a spectator. That's why I find it so fascinating that my most favorite nights at the store are the ones that turn in to impromptu dance parties.

This past Monday was no exception. Our friend Chris, of Circa 33, has been joining us every Monday to play records from our bins in our "Cuts from the Crates" night. It turned in to a late night dance party and we stayed open an extra hour. In the middle of our dance party, I said to Chris, that my most memorable night so far at the Hall is when we closed up about a month ago and Justin, Chris and I had a dance party all to ourselves. It was ridiculously fun.

And Justin and I have been known to do some slow dancing behind the bar as well. One time, two customers sitting at the bar commented that they'd definitely be back and the clincher was watching us dance together. In fact, my favorite picture of us at the store was taken by a customer as Justin and I danced.



In two Saturdays (April 2nd) we will be hosting our first official Circa 33/Hall of Records sponsored party. Slimkid3 from the Pharcyde will be DJing and we're expecting a big dance party!! His music will be playing in both venues (but you have to come to HOR to see him in person!).



We love our neighbors and can't wait to make more dancing memories!

Updates!

We have soooo much going on!

Justin starts training at KMHD Jazz Radio today. He's been hired to host Roots and Grooves on Thursdays from 2PM - 6PM. We are so excited for him!!

I'm the Belmont Business Association rep for the Belmont Street Fair - so I have meetings once a week to plan the fair. It's super fun, but a little overwhelming! The fair is going to be Saturday, September 10th.

We have lots of fun stuff coming up at the store. Today is St. Patrick's Day!!


DJ Tiger Stripes is DJing and we have $3 Guinness 14 oz cans.

Friday is Open Tables, Saturday is Green Mango's Jamaican Night with Live Horns, Sunday is all day Happy Hour and then Monday we're hosting a Social Media Event for 1/2 Price Sandwich Night!

We're making a few modifications at the store, involving some new furniture as we prep for a liquor license! We need 30 seats to have full liquor and so we need to make some adjustments. This means early mornings of sanding, staining and sealing new tables and a counter!

And on top of all this, Justin and I are planning a wedding! We're about 4 months out - so things are getting intense! Luckily we enjoy being busy :)

New Signage!

The first six months of us being in business, we've tried to let business dictate what we were to become. It became apparent within the first month that the daytime/cafe wasn't for us. As much as we wanted it, the reality is that customers dictate what a business is to become. And our customers saw a bar!

The only problem was that we were a beer and wine bar and people want their liquor! So as good business owners, we want to give our customers what they want! So the liquor license application process is on its way. The truth is we can't afford not to. We lose too many people because we don't have it.

So now we're fully embracing what we have become: a vinyl shop and bar. We just had new signage made to reflect this. Up until this point, our sign has only said our name - which has been confusing to some as they don't get what we are. So we need to let everyone know that we are a vinyl shop and bar!

A joint collaboration from our friend Theron and Derek from Tibetan Fox, the new signage rocks! And we got to keep the photo of the person holding up the record (who just happens to really be Justin's Aunt - who is a photographer and took the picture).

So our new signage looks like this!



But when it's on our windows it will be transparent and look like this:

So Involved

Every day we feel more and more a part of our community and neighborhood. We recently joined the Belmont Business Association board and have been super busy with meetings and planning. I am the BBA rep for the Belmont Street fair so I am in the process of working with and getting to know a lot of the Neighborhood Association people.

I'm getting emails daily asking for my opinion on things. The latest is the possible extension of the bike parking in front of Stumptown. It would mean adding like 15 new bike corrals and pushing the loading zone down in front of our store. We're all for it!

We've been spending a lot of time hanging out/getting to know our neighbors, too. The Blue Monk has added a new owner/partner who is super cool. And we've decided to start calling Chris, the chef from Circa, the Midnight Mayor of Belmont. He's all over the block mingling and helping out other businesses. If the owner of Hoda's is the mayor of Belmont, then Chris is definitely the mayor come night fall.

Alli, from the former Little Red Bike Cafe, came in the other night and it was fun to see her. One of our employees, Nate, used to work for her so it was nice to see them have a little reunion! We just went to Alli's husband's food cart Lucy's Original and had the best burger we've had in years. Definitely go get one (or five)!!

Just Out magazine just did a feature on the Record Room in North Portland. I ran in to them after a Blazer's Game a few weeks ago and we had a really fun reunion. They mentioned us in the article and said "we're the nicest people ever!" How cool.

It feels good to be loved and involved.

This week!

This week the NW Cuban is going on the regular menu! It was such a huge hit that it just has to stay!

Tonight is a TRIBUTE TO THE LADIES! And it's also Pint Nite! Every Tuesday $3 Drafts from 7PM - Midnight.



Wednesday night is STANDING 8 and MR. JEIGH spinning the very best in funk & soul. (And they have some sick mixing skills)!



Thursday is DJ INSTIGATAH-JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, TRIP HOP, REGGAE, AND TRADITIONAL DUB



Friday is OPEN TABLES!!! A super fun night full of lots of different kinds of music. Bring your own records and spin!

Saturday is NICK FURY - resident DJ at Beaulah Land.

Sunday is KBOO's SEAMSTRESS OF SOUND and Happy Hour All Day and Night!

Hope to see you this week!