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Every great endeavor starts with a spark, and for Vinyl Oasis, that spark ignited in the imaginative world of a five-year-old, meticulously arranging army men on a bedroom floor. While the sounds of guitar and piano drifted from other rooms, a different rhythm pulsed in the background – the soulful beats of Motown from a humble stereo radio. This early fascination with collecting and music, seemingly disconnected, would eventually weave its way through teenage dreams of killer sound systems, unexpected discoveries by a record store's back door, and a journey through military service and entrepreneurial ventures, all leading to the unlikely birth of a beloved record store.
Our Story
From Army Men to Vinyl Oasis: A Collector's Journey
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Fast forward to my teenage years, and my brother was living the dream. His apartment in Georgia was right next to Peaches Record Store, and he had a killer sound system, always blasting the latest releases. I yearned for that setup, settling for an 8-track player that couldn't quite capture the magic. My high school job at a local hotel put me right in Peaches’ orbit, quite literally. They rented a room at the hotel, and my daily duty included dumping their trash. It was there, by the back door, that they'd leave discarded records. This was it—the true beginning of my vinyl collecting journey. Life was simple then: basketball, music, and girls. A cool life indeed. My collection slowly grew, though I wasn't buying records just yet.
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After high school, I joined the Air Force, and finally, I had the means to buy that killer sound system my brother had. My record collection truly began to blossom at the base exchange. Leaving the Air Force, I landed in Denver. The first thing I did was seek out the local record store, a small hole-in-the-wall called Sunshine Records on Colfax Avenue – a name I'll never forget. It felt tiny, maybe 20 by 30 feet, with a "wall of hits" on one side and a few bins near the cash register. Walking in, I'd always think, "Man, I'd love to own a small record shop like this someday." But at 23, it felt like an impossible dream.
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Every Friday, I'd hit up Sunshine Records for all the hot new releases. I'd grab TDK cassette tapes to create my legendary mixtapes on my two turntables and Radio Shack mixer. Then, my brother and I would hit the streets, music pumping from the car, Midnight Star, Billy Ocean, Planet Rock, Prince, and Michael Jackson blasting as we pulled up to the clubs or, on Saturday afternoon, the basketball court. Music bumping, girls watching. Between us, we had a serious collection, and soon, our shared passion evolved into a DJ business called "8th Wonder." That's when my music collection truly exploded.
As the years rolled on, the 8-tracks, cassettes, and even records began to fade. My collecting focus shifted to baseball, basketball, and football trading cards, which I took very seriously. Record collecting went into hibernation. I embraced CDs and digital downloads – yes, I even dabbled with Napster. My side gig became selling trading cards at local shows, making decent money while finishing my business degree. For the next twenty years, my records, my sister's records, and my brother's records gathered dust in my garage. Nobody wanted them but me, so I held onto them.
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I always yearned for a side pursuit that combined fun with profit. After ten years as a probation officer and twelve years coaching basketball, including college head coach and founding the Rocky Mountain Rockers AAU youth basketball home to fifteen boys and girls teams, my love for music never waned. I always kept one foot in the music world, even opening a recording studio in Denver. After earning my Bachelor of Science in Business, I continued my studies, hoping to open a recording studio for local artists. I delved into graphic design, music production, video production, and web design, eventually opening BTH Studios. It was an 8-room production facility with space for beat production, a green room for video shoots, an online radio & TV production room, and multiple recording studios staffed by Full Sail engineers. Of course, some of my old vinyl records found new life as decoration. It was ironic; as a kid, I never played an instrument, but now I'd learned how to make beats on production software and built a recording studio. Maybe if I'd had the chance, I could've been Michael Jackson's competition (ha, ha).
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Several years later, I moved to Florida to be closer to my mother and found my lovely wife, J, after visiting the Philippines. With just enough money in our account to cover bills and fund a small business, I kept thinking back to Sunshine Records in Denver. "Now is the time," I thought. I had all my records shipped from Denver, but quickly realized my predominantly R&B collection wasn't nearly enough to open a full-fledged record store, especially not in Ocala, which felt like a rock 'n' roll town. I didn't know much about sourcing records or selling them. I just knew we needed a lot of variety. The image of my hundreds of army men and thousands of trading cards flashed in my mind. We were far from what we needed.​
The seed of Vinyl Oasis was planted long before I knew what a record store even was. It started in the fantastical miniature worlds I built on my bedroom floor at age five. Hours would melt away as I orchestrated epic battles between army men, Indians, and cowboys, utterly absorbed in my own universe. All the while, the soundtrack to my isolated realm was my father's guitar strumming in the other room, my sister's piano melodies, and my older brother's burgeoning guitar riffs. I desperately wanted to play drums, begging for lessons that never materialized. So, I settled for a humble stereo radio, letting Motown legends like The Temptations, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Earth, Wind & Fire, and The Jackson 5 fill the air as my plastic armies marched. Michael Jackson and I shared a birth year and month, and his meteoric rise played a huge part in shaping my early love for music.
So, J and I hatched a plan. We bought a tent, chairs, and a table, made a big sign that read "We Buy Vinyl Records," and headed to a local off-road flea market, hoping to buy inventory. Looking back, it seems a little naive, even stupid. We didn't have anyone stop by our tent. But, I truly believe the record gods were on our side. As we packed up to go home, J looked down and spotted $1,000 in cash neatly bundled in a rubber band laying in the grass. We couldn't believe it!
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That day at the flea market made us rethink everything. How could we acquire more records, especially rock? We immediatley placed an add online and got a call the very next day. Unbelievable, things were moving quick. A random guy called and said, "Meet me at my storage unit. It's full of records and CDs. I just need to get rid of them." Pulling up, we saw a 50-year-old
gentleman with long hair, wearing a rock 'n' roll t-shirt – a good sign! He opened his storage unit, and there it was: over 2,000 records and 3,000 CDs, all in mint condition, blues, hard rock and metal. The owner was a long-time rocker, a veteran who'd been in a band in Germany. Then came the big question: "How much do you want?" We had never bought records in bulk before. He said, "How about $700?" I agreed instantly. The $1,000 we found covered the cost of our tent, chairs, and table from the day before, and the records. Wow. It was truly meant to be.
With the last bit of money we had, we opened our first Vinyl Oasis location two weeks later, on August 28, 2018, right here in Ocala, Florida. J and I have come a long way since then, now moving to our third location at Paddock Market – our "Super Store." This journey, from tiny army men to thousands of records, has always been about passion, community, and the magic of discovery.
The story of Vinyl Oasis began not with a grand plan, but with a childhood fascination for collecting and the soulful sounds of Motown. From arranging army men on the floor to discovering discarded records by chance, each step was a subtle push towards a bigger dream. That dream, fueled by passion and a truly unexpected find, has now led us to this incredible moment. We're thrilled to invite you to the grand opening of our "Super Store" at Paddock Market. This isn't just an expansion; it's the beginning of our most exciting chapter yet. Come make memories and find your next favorite record with us.
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.
352-216-3477