EXPLORE RECORD SHOPS IN VERMONT

Vermont has no chain record stores: no Bull Moose, no Newbury Comics, no FYE. Every shop in the state is an independent, and Buch Spieler in Montpelier has been the oldest continuously operating one since January 1973. Phish formed at UVM in 1983 and built one of America’s most loyal touring fan bases without ever leaving the Green Mountain orbit, while Higher Ground in South Burlington has hosted everyone from Anaïs Mitchell to Grace Potter to the post-Trey solo scene. Pure Pop Records has anchored Burlington since 1980 from its subterranean downtown space, Exile On Main Street in Barre has held 85,000 LPs and 100,000-plus 45s since 1982, and Burlington Records has run 15-plus years with 15,000 LPs of its own. Autumn Records’ Winooski flagship and new Waterbury location (inside TREEHOUSE coworking) handle the experimental and electronic side, Speaking Volumes transferred ownership to Rough Francis guitarist Julian Hackney in April 2026, and ST J Spins in Saint Johnsbury gave the Northeast Kingdom its first dedicated record shop in 2022. Take 89 down through Montpelier and Burlington, ride 100 over the spine of the Greens, and see what the Green Mountain State has been keeping in the bins.

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BEYOND VERMONT: VINYL JOURNEYS FROM THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STATE

As the record spins down in the Green Mountain State, every shop you flipped through today is just one set in a much bigger New England circuit. Lake Champlain runs west toward the Adirondacks, the Connecticut River runs south past Brattleboro, and Vermont’s bordering states put the rest of the indie network within a single weekend’s reach.

New York Record Stores: Roll west into New York, where Manhattan’s Generation Records and A1 Records anchor the East Village dig, Brooklyn’s Academy and Captured Tracks Shop fuel the borough’s indie pulse, and Upstate college towns from Ithaca to Hudson hold the back issues no one else carries.

Massachusetts Record Stores: Drop south into Massachusetts, where Boston’s Newbury Comics legacy stores anchor a deep punk and indie circuit, Cambridge and Somerville college shops cover everything from jazz to hardcore, and Cape Cod’s seasonal shops keep summer-weekend collectors stocked through Labor Day.

New Hampshire Record Stores: Cross east into New Hampshire, where Bull Moose continues its New England chain into the Granite State, Portsmouth’s seacoast shops carry indie and jazz, and the White Mountain towns from North Conway to Lincoln keep year-round vinyl scenes alive for the ski-weekend crowd.

Maine Record Stores: Head east to Maine, where Bull Moose’s eight-store chain runs from Bangor down to Biddeford, Enterprise Records holds Portland’s LP-only specialty since 1987, and Strange Maine has been operating since 2003 with no phone and no social media on principle.

Colorado Record Stores: Fly west to Colorado, where Denver’s Twist & Shout anchors one of the country’s most respected indies, Boulder’s Bart’s Record Shop runs the college-town dig, and the Rockies pull Vermont skiers west for the bigger-mountain weeks when the Greens run thin.

Puerto Rico Record Stores: Cruise south to Puerto Rico, where San Juan’s Viera, OYE, and Electroshock keep 180,000-LP-deep salsa, jazz, and Latin trap stacks rotating, El Discotecario digs into salsa, boogaloo, and disco on Calle Cerra, and the island’s bomba and reggaeton lineages stay close to every counter.

At Record Store Directory, every state line is an invitation to keep exploring. Share your finds, connect with fellow collectors, and chase down that next unforgettable album, because the perfect record is always closer than you think.

Happy hunting, and we’ll see you in the next stack!

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Vermont RSD FAQ

How many record stores are in Vermont?
Vermont has 21 active record stores spread across 17 distinct towns. Burlington carries three, Bennington and Rutland each hold two, and the remaining shops distribute one per town from Bellows Falls in the south to Saint Johnsbury in the Northeast Kingdom. Notably, Vermont has zero chain record stores – no Bull Moose, no Newbury Comics, no FYE – making it one of the purest indie-only states in the country. The southern Vermont shops sit a short drive from Massachusetts, the Lake Champlain corridor pulls into New York, and the Connecticut River Valley shops in Bellows Falls and Brattleboro sit across from the New Hampshire line.
Tell me about Buch Spieler Records.
Buch Spieler Records in Montpelier opened in January 1973 and is Vermont’s oldest continuously operating record store – 53 years and counting in 2026. The shop sits in the state capital and has weathered every shift in the recording industry from the late-vinyl 1970s through the CD era and back into vinyl’s resurgence. It remains the natural first stop for any Vermont record-store circuit and an anchor for the central-Vermont indie scene.
What are the best record stores in Burlington and Winooski?
The Burlington-Winooski metro carries Vermont’s densest cluster. Pure Pop Records on College Street, established in 1980, is the subterranean Burlington indie that has anchored the Queen City scene for over 45 years. Burlington Records on Pine Street stocks more than 15,000 LPs after 15-plus years of operation. Speaking Volumes Record Store & Repair Shop on Marble Avenue passed from founder Norbert Ender to new owner Julian Hackney (guitarist for Rough Francis) in April 2026. Across the Winooski River, Autumn Records‘ flagship is owned by experimental and electronic musician Greg Davis.
Tell me about Vermont's multi-location indie operators.
For a 21-shop state, Vermont punches above its weight on multi-location indie chains. Speaking Volumes runs two locations under the same name: the Burlington Marble Avenue shop now under Julian Hackney plus the Speaking Volumes Randolph location, which opened in spring 2025 in an old grain mill and remains under founder Norbert Ender. Autumn Records opened its second location in Waterbury on April 1, 2025, inside the TREEHOUSE coworking space – the original is the Winooski flagship.
Best record stores in southern Vermont?
Southern Vermont carries a tight indie scene from the Massachusetts border up through the Manchester corridor. Turn It Up! in Brattleboro anchors the Brattleboro indie trade. Bellows Beats in Bellows Falls soft-opened in summer 2023. Next Chapter Records in Putney was opened by a retired middle-school teacher. In the Manchester Center area, the longstanding Northshire Bookstore (an indie bookstore founded in 1976) carries a curated new-vinyl section across all three of its floors. In the Moment Records in Londonderry rounds out the southern circuit.
Best record stores in central Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom?
Exile On Main Street in Barre has been open since 1982 and stocks roughly 85,000 LPs plus more than 100,000 45s, making it one of the deepest used inventories in Vermont. Up in Saint Johnsbury, ST J Spins opened in December 2022 as the first dedicated record shop in the Northeast Kingdom. In Rutland, Mountain Music shares its space with sterling silver and body jewelry from Mountain Man Jewelry, and Rick & Kat’s Howlin’ Mouse covers the second Rutland shop.
Does Vermont participate in Record Store Day?
Yes, and Vermont’s all-indie roster (no chain stores anywhere in the state) means RSD turnout concentrates at the longest-running and most-trafficked shops. Buch Spieler Records in Montpelier (since 1973), Pure Pop Records in Burlington (since 1980), Exile On Main Street in Barre (since 1982), and Speaking Volumes in Burlington all anchor the state’s annual Record Store Day turnout. Check the official Record Store Day store locator each spring for the current Vermont participant list.
Are there any unusual record shops in Vermont?
Vermont has plenty. Owl’s Nest Emporium in Bennington runs a “Little Shop of Vinyl” room with roughly 4,000 records inside an antiques and upholstery shop (call ahead). Knapp’s, also in Bennington, added a vinyl department to its toys-hobbies-guitars store back in 2000. The Flying Disc in Enosburg Falls is a record store, gift shop, and coffeehouse combined under one roof. Re-Bop Records in Marshfield runs as a small label and mail-order operation with visits by appointment, and The Vinyl Loft in Quechee operates as a dealer booth inside the Vermont Antique Mall.