Bellefonte’s newest small business, Fez Records, will open its doors this weekend. News, sports, jobs

Vinyl records are making a comeback. There aren’t many options for buying records in Bellefonte. Now, everything is about to change.

Today, Fez Records, located at 2042 Axemann Road in Bellefonte, officially opens its doors. The new business is located just outside the popular Titan Market. Michael Fester, owner and operator of Fez Records, lives in State College with his wife, Courtney. For Fester, his love of records and music began at an early age. Opening Fez Records is a dream come true, he said.

“I’ve been going to record stores for as long as I can remember. Wherever I’ve lived—in Vegas or Arizona—I’ve just found a record store that I like to hang out at.” Fester said. “I wanted to be with people who loved music like me. So I went there and spent some money.

With that in mind, Fester says he took the best elements of his favorite record shops to create Fez Records. There are vinyl boxes for every taste. There are listening stations so customers can listen before they buy. There are comfortable couches and chairs to sit and listen to whatever is playing that day. There are mock record t-shirts and stickers for sale. And there’s beer! Yes, customers are invited to enjoy a free beer with their purchase.

CHRIS MORELLI/THE EXPRESS Record players are available for sale at Fez Records at 2042 Axemann Road in Bellefonte.

Music and beer? Does it get any better than this?

“Beer is important to me.” said Fester, laughing. “Beer and Music”

Opening his own record store has always been in his mind.

“I’ve always loved the idea of ​​having my own place where I can be surrounded by old – and new – vinyl. I wanted a place for people who wanted to get rid of old media to sell or trade. I also wanted to create a place where people could come and have fun. Fester said.

Finally, Fez Records said there will be live music featuring local musicians.

Chris Morelli/The Express At Fezz Records, you can sit back and listen to music from the past and present.

“We want local musicians to come in and jam. And the space next to Titan Market is open right outside our door. How convenient… We have a bit of room to spare. I want live music. I want people to come and stay and buy records if they want. Fester said.

Fester is the assistant principal at Park Forest Middle School in State College, so Fez Records is simply a hobby — or side hustle — of sorts. He said he started looking for a place several months ago. He looked at many real estate properties before finding his place in Titan Market.

“(A total of) 1,000 square feet… The doors are open that I don’t have to rely on the market, although I definitely want to feed off some of their energy. But also, I can open it whenever I want. I share the parking lot with Axeman (brewery), so I was excited to get some of their shrapnel from their events…just fell in love with the entrance and the price was right. I just ran with it.” Fester said.

At Fez Records, the decor is, for lack of a better word, cool. In addition to large bins of vinyl, the store is decorated with several framed music posters, many of which feature Fester’s favorite band, Pearl Jam.

“I’m 100 percent over Pearl Jam, so it’s all Pearl Jam related. Luckily for me, Pearl Jam uses very cool and trendy artists to make their art. Understand that I have many posters to decorate.” Fester said.

CHRIS MORELLI/THE EXPRESS Bins of vinyl are available for sale at Fez Records at 2042 Axeman Road in Bellefonte.

Fester A “Door to Nowhere” It is covered with various stickers. He hopes music lovers will bring some of their favorites to help them decorate.

“I wanted to paint red and then paste the dots. I encourage people to bring stickers.” he said.

While Bellefonte’s first standalone record store is truly a work in progress, it’s off to a beautiful start.

“My lease started in March and since I have a real job, I’m spending every weekend here trying to do most of the work myself.” Fester said.

He said he did most of the work, but had to hire a construction company to make the space wheelchair accessible. They did some work on the roof.

“Everything else you see – all the lights, the fans – I did it myself.” Fester said.

As for the vinyl, you get a little bit of everything. He used LPs for as low as $2. New vinyl is very expensive, of course. If you want something Fester doesn’t have, he’ll do his best to find it.

Needless to say, Fester is thrilled to be part of the vinyl renaissance.

“There’s a beautiful nature to an album.” Fester said. “We’ve come a long way from that, but people are seeing the art that goes into a record, a record cover… what’s old is new again. It’s all very cool.”