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From left, Geoff Walker and Jon Teichman stand among their records during an August sale at the Ore Dock Brewing Co. in Marquette. The pair have been holding record sales for several years. (Photo courtesy of Andrea Carr/Ore Dock Brewing Co.)

Building community, one record at a time

About eight years ago, two friends brought their love for music into a vinyl partnership.

For Marquette natives and longtime family friends Jon Teichman and Geoff Walker, records brought them together for a specific mission — sharing the fruits of their collecting hobby with others.

“Other formats of music cannot unite generations,” said Vinyl Reception owner & DJ Greg Sandell. “Vinyl does that.”

The next vinyl sale is September 9-12 at Ore Dock Brewing Company in Marquette. Thousands of records will be available for purchase from noon until Ore Dock closes for the evening.

“This sale will be during Beer Fest,” Teichman said. “It should be a lot of fun.”

The Michigan Brewers Guild 12th Annual U.P. Fall Beer Festival takes place on September 11 this year.

“Thankfully, we’ve only had two incidents with beer and the records,” Walker said. “I had one guy spill 50 cents of beer and destroy $500 worth of records. We had words.”

The first record show started around Walker’s brother Mike’s taco-making skills. Mike was selling tacos at Ore Dock Brewing Company, prior to having the Dia de los Tacos food truck, when he connected Geoff with the brewery manager. He pitched the vinyl sale idea — one he wasn’t sure would work, but the public quickly proved him wrong at that very first sale.

“At 5 p.m., we unlocked the back door and they piled in, two or three deep in front of the tables,” Walker said. “We sold 1,500 records, and my brother sold out of tacos.”

He continued hauling thousands of records to the U.P. he had bought downstate and while en route to Marquette. Walker also stored records with friends and family in the Marquette area so not everything had to be hauled back and forth.

The demand continued, and soon, Walker realized the sales had become busy enough that he might need an assistant. Finally, when he was asked to play in a local festival during one of the sale weekends, he called on Teichman for help.

“I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else,” Teichman said. “Our wives are super supportive, and the community has been amazing.”

Both Teichman and Walker agree they have complementary skill sets, which makes their partnership work.

“We’ve been friends so long that we finish each other’s sentences,” Teichman said. “And we laugh a lot.”

The labor of love is obvious at the sales, with each box and table organized meticulously. Customers often compliment the selection; “You’ve got eight Replacements albums? You’re not going to find that anywhere in the United States.”

The men just smile graciously.

“They’re very enthusiastic,” said vinyl connoisseur Olivia Pirhonen of Negaunee. “The atmosphere is always fun. [Geoff and Jon] are always chatting with customers, and everyone is so happy to be there. It’s always a good time.”

The ebb and flow of foot traffic is like music — sometimes a slow moving ballad and sometimes a lively polka. But the customers just keep showing up.

“People come from all over the U.P.,”

By Kristy Basolo-Malmsten

Teichman said. “It was more than we expected.”

For both men, the events are about more than music, though. They are about building community.

“There are people who I just see at these events,” Teichman said. “And there are people who just come out to help us, unasked.”

Teichman said friends will show up to help haul the thousands of records in for the sale; others will drop off food to keep them going for the day. Even locally famous “Uncle Pizza” makes sure to bring them a pie.

“We never expect people to help, but it wouldn’t work without them,” Walker said. “This builds community in a lot of ways during a time with way too many things dividing us.”

Teichman said this sense of community is how the sales keep going. For him, he had a similar experience visiting Bowling Green while he was checking out places to go to college. He found a record store in the town, and the staff was so welcoming and friendly that he knew he’d spend some years in that area.

“If this is our contribution to building community, I feel good about that,” Teichman said.

Both men have day jobs, with Teichman working as an assistant director of admissions at NMU, and Walker a counselor with his own practice in the Detroit area.

“As a counselor, I’m focused on helping people find internal balance in a pure therapeutic sense,” Walker said. “I have helped people find that more through [music] than I ever did in the office.”

Despite that, Walker said the best thing about the shows is the friends they’ve made. He revels in the challenge of finding certain records for collectors.

“Music knowledge has no boundaries,” Walker said. “You can have a conversation with anyone about any genre and always learn something from each other.”

Walker enjoys watching people with spontaneous purchases, as well as those who are seeking out something in particular. The men pride themselves on having something for everyone at the sales.

“There are some days I think, ‘Why did I buy that? Nobody’s gonna want that.’ And then two hours later, it sells,” Walker said. “I can’t force it though. It has to happen organically.”

Teichman said there’s nothing like customers finding a treasure in the stacks.

“I love when I hear, ‘I’ve been looking for this!’” he said. “People get excited about their finds, and it energizes me.”

In a time when other forms of non-tangible media may seem to dominate, vinyl has not gone out of style. Whether it’s the trend of retro being cool, or the artwork and lyrics that come with some albums, records have not lost their luster for many.

“I’m a fan of physical media,” Teichman said. “There’s a connection between

At left, records on display at The Emporium, featuring Vintage Vinyl, in downtown Marquette. Above, a vintage record player, is also on display. (Photos by Kristy Basolo-Malmsten)

holding that album in your hand and how it makes it effortless to share memories of times that music was important to you.”

Teichman said he uses a form of publicity that some might say is as archaic as vinyl — but it still works as well. The duo design flyers for each show, and mail and handout postcards with event details.

“The flyer game is strong in Marquette County,” he said. “Putting a poster up in a store window gets attention here.”

He also said his patrons often take postcards for the next show, keeping it on their refrigerator or in another safe place as a reminder. While the shows are also advertised on social media, that isn’t the main focus.

“Even in the era of social media, there’s something about that postcard,” Teichman said. “It’s been successful enough to do four times a year, so we must be doing something right.”

The shows start at the end of March and run through November — or before the snow gets too deep to be hauling dozens of boxes of records.

In between his day job and the sales, Teichman and his wife Laura have another passion — pop culture collecting in general. Teichman’s even got a degree in it.

The Teichmans’ store, The Emporium featuring Vintage Vinyl, is located at 317 West Washington Street.

“The décor and items are all Laura,” Teichman says. “I just stick to the records.”

The store is filled with old record players, vintage toys, jewelry and more. It all comes together to offer customers a step back in time — but not too far back.

“I enjoy talking to people and reliving their memories when they pick some of these things up,” Teichman said.

Both in his store and at the sales, there is no one demographic who shows up for the music.

“We have a variety of people who like to come in here and explore and learn about new music,” Teichman said.

Walker said he likes that things are changing with the type of customer he sees at sales.

“The gender balance of vinyl shoppers has shifted in the last few years,” Walker said. “It used to be a male-dominated thing and now we are seeing women of all ages as well.”

Teichman said his customers have a variety of experiences while flipping through records.

“One of my customers said, ‘I’m time traveling right now,’ as he was looking through albums in the store,” Teichman said. “And then I get young people coming in who get introduced to old music they’ve never heard. It’s special.”

The Emporium is open from 5:30 to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The store is closed the last Saturday and Sunday of the month, when the couple travels to buy new treasures for their store.

“We also love to look at other people’s collections and we buy records,” Teichman said. “The best way is to give us a call to set up a time to get together.”

Vintage Vinyl also ships records purchased by people all over the country.

“We’ve shipped more than 1,000 records,” he said.

For details, call Teichman at (906)3736183.

About the author: Kristy Basolo-Malmsten was the Marquette Monthly editor for more than a decade, as well as the owner of God’s Country U.P. Outdoors Magazine. She has a master’s degree in writing from NMU, and lives in Ishpeming. Her day job is as the senior center director in Negaunee.