First City Records owner Aaron Whited discusses the shop, which opened Oct. 1 at 166 Front St., while sporting a hat with the business’ former name, Monster’s Horde. With the move, the business’ focus has shifted from toys to records. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

There’s a record shop in Pittsburgh called Jerry’s, where Aaron Whited said music enthusiasts can spend an entire day and walk out with items they didn’t even know they were looking for when they arrived.

“It’s got such a wide variety and extremely fair prices it’s easy to take chances on new and interesting looking things,” he said.

Whited wants to create that kind of place in Marietta and draw people from beyond the local area.

“I’m on a mission to make the best record store in Ohio,” he said.

The mission technically began Oct. 1 with the opening of First City Records at 166 Front St. But that date also marked one year since Whited welcomed people to his first retail presence in downtown Marietta.

First City Records features a variety of new and used albums on vinyl, as well as other media. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

That was Monster’s Horde, which Whited described as “a toy store with records.” It developed a loyal group of regulars despite getting little foot traffic in the basement of the Kramer building at 313 Putnam St.

“We’ve seen more people in a month than we did in the whole year up there,” he said. “And I’d say 75% are new customers, not my regulars.”

Whited said the displays of vintage collectibles drew lots of interest at Monster’s Horde.

“People would love to come and see them and reminisce, but it wasn’t selling,” he said.

But despite the rise of streaming music services, or perhaps in part because of it, music on vinyl is having a resurgence.

One of the first events at First City Records was a release party for the vinyl edition of Taylor Swift’s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” on vinyl. (Photo courtesy of Cassie Jo Photography)

“A lot of it is people like physical media; they like to be able to hold the item in their hand,” Whited said.

There’s also a collectability aspect, like the toys that Whited loves or baseball cards in years past. Artists not only release albums on vinyl but variant editions, pressed on different colors in limited numbers. For example, Taylor Swift’s rerelease of her “1989” album came in shades including aquamarine, pink and blue.

The store celebrated the album’s arrival with a release party Oct. 26 that drew about 60 people. There was karaoke and a Taylor Swift cosplayer on hand.

Hours are still to be determined, but for now First City Records is generally open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.

The shop doesn’t just sell vinyl — there are CDs, cassettes, even eight-tracks, as well as music memorabilia, clothing and other related accessories. Some movies made the trip from the previous store, a selection of DVDs and VHS tapes, mainly horror and a few concert or music-related offerings. Vintage video games will be returning soon as well.

The store is still under construction with more vinyl on the way — a lot more.

“I still have about 25,000 records to price and bring over here,” Whited said. “One box at a time, that’s what I keep telling myself.”

He’s also still looking to buy records and sell music by local artists.

The new venue gives Whited a chance to collaborate with other local businesses. Jeremiah’s Coffee House will provide the beverages, sandwiches, salads and snacks for a planned live music series on Fridays and Saturdays. There will be in-store yoga with Michelle Waters’ Weird Flex Yoga, vinyl record painting parties with the Marietta Makery, video game tournaments, poetry readings and more.

“My goal is to have listening parties and do unique, fun things that are all-ages events,” Whited said.