Music Gator

LOCATION: 1251 Hastings Drive

HOURS: Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (803) -905-7626 for more information.

Sumter has a place where you can go and enjoy the nostalgia of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s with all other decades before and after.

Located at 1251 Hastings Drive, Music Gator is open to all those young and old who want to get their favorite vinyls, CDs, band T-shirts and so many more music-related items you can’t get anywhere else nearby.

For nearly 30 years, Music Gator has had Sumter as a home after owner Phil Sports retired from the military and wanted to do something he loved. He enjoyed walking into different music stores on his travels and decided he wanted to open his own store 28 years ago.

“I have always heard you want to do something that you’d be happier doing, you should enjoy what you do for work, and it helps you keep going,” Sports said.

Although Music Gator has moved spots over the years, Sports said he’s awlays had his loyal customers who find their way inside. And moving hasn’t been the biggest challenge, it has been the change he’s seen.

“I had to change people’s habits. Whenever technology started getting to the point of burning CDs, I wasn’t worried. It was when down- loading started becoming a thing that a little worry set in,” he said.

When you walk into Music Gator, the smell of your childhood bedroom hits you. The walls are lined with old album covers. CDs fill the shelves. It’s every teenager’s dream store.

Vinyl has surged in popularity recently, and people can visit Music Gator to get that real feel of a CD or their favorite band’s poster.

“It’s funny because before I opened a music store, I had a room that I called a music room where I learned a little bit of guitar and had all my record albums, CDs and memorabilia all over the walls,” Sports said.

Now there is a small section of the store that retains that nostalgia for him.

Sports said it amazes him that after 28 years people still don’t know his store is in the heart of Sumter just off the business hub of Broad Street.

“I feel like it is something off the beaten path,” Sports said. “It is not a corporate business, but it is still big to the people who enjoy these types of stores. That’s what a hidden gem means to me.”