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Lancaster independent record store to reopen bigger than ever

Liz Crane and Martin Collins from Forty Five Records

An independent record store in Lancaster is about to move to a bigger premises and will now be selling drinks as well as music.

Forty Five Records will reopen at 7 Kings Arcade on Thursday, January 16.

The new bigger store is just a stone's throw from the previous shop in Kings Arcade, which opened in 2023 and closed in October while the new premises was refurbished.

Forty Five Records is run by Martin Collins and Liz Crane, and Martin said they have put in a "big investment" to expand the business.

"The new space came up and it's so much bigger, around seven or eight times the size of the old shop", said Martin.

"It means we can offer more records, and we can also sell coffee, other hot drinks, soft drinks and non alcoholic beers.

"When we first opened, our plan was to sell every genre of music. I think, over time, we have seen what works really well.

"We will still sell your Fleetwood Macs, records you would expect, but we found out customers really like house, drum 'n' bass, dubstep, jazz, funk, soul, disco, world music and electronica."

Forty Five Records will also continue to have live music and DJ sets inside the shop.

Martin is a lifelong music fan whose dad Julian used to be a manager at Crystal T's nightclub in Morecambe. 

Liz has been around vinyl her whole life too and her dad has played in local bands including The Devious Soul Machine and The Midnights.

Martin also used to work in the old Blue Tubes skate board shop on King Street, so was influenced by spending time in the nearby Proper Records record store.

Read more: New record store set to open in Lancaster - Beyond Radio

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