Black Hills Vinyl: Keeping the Cool in Downtown Rapid City

It was 2014. Michael Calabrese was sitting in his home in Boulder browsing Craigslist. This was not uncommon, as he and his wife, Jennifer, had recently started a recordcollecting hobby. “I would find steals in local thrift shops.” The listing he stumbled upon, however, was quite uncommon: a record store in Rapid City, South Dakota.

“There was a posting on the Denver and Minneapolis Criagslist for anyone that was interested in buying a record store… the owners wanted to keep the store in Rapid City but wanted to make sure that the record store remained cool,” Michael recalled.

That listing changed Jennifer and Michael’s life, and downtown Rapid City, forever.

Jennifer and Michael Calabrese grew up in suburban Pittsburgh. Michael’s job took him to Boulder but the couple knew that the expensive Colorado lifestyle was not going to be their final destination. “We came to Rapid City to visit before making the move and it just felt right here,” Michael explained. “We knew this was a small community but we knew the potential of the city as soon as we got here. We knew we could make our mark here.”

“We saw the ‘Do Big Things’ banners and felt that call to action,” Jennifer added.

Owning a small business is not easy, especially to start. “We didn’t have much money when we started but we knew we needed some merchandise,” Michael recalled. “So we would go to thrift stores and buy comfortable t-shirts and our friend would print our logo on them and we would sell them.”

“We wanted to keep our style. That was the same hustle as when I was selling albums online as a hobby, I think that’s what made us successful over time,” Jennifer added.

That same hustle allowed the owners to continue to thrive during the pandemic as well. “We had a great online presence, and my wife has a great eye for finding the diamonds in the rough in the $2.00 bins at other record stores,” Michael described. During the pandemic, while people were staying home and reconnecting with their families the idea of vinyl has seen a resurgence in popularity. “In the past two years Vinyl has blown up, and as we continue to find great items, we try them in the store and bring them to the community. If they don’t sell, we put them online for others outside of the community to buy. Our town is a lot cooler than people know right now,” added Jennifer.

Michel and Jennifer came to Rapid City to not only buy Black Hills Vinyl but also wanted to leave their mark on their community. In their short time the two have already gotten involved in different areas of the community, Michael ran for State Senate in 2020 and in 2021 Jennifer sat on the Vision Fund Committee. “We see how much potential there is here in our community, and we want to help it see its potential,” Michael explained.

The Calabreses will continue to build their brand in Rapid City at Black Hills Vinyl and through community involvement. “Everyone has helped prop us up in the community and we want to do the same for others. All of the businesses here look out for one another, it’s pretty cool to be a part of it. We feel like we grew up with the owners of Hay Camp and it’s been fun to watch the transformation downtown,” added Michael Calabrese.

BLACK HILLS VINYL // 622 ST. JOSEPH ST. RAPID CITY // 605.791.4040