Louisville's Funhouse Records might be the biggest little record store in America

Jeffrey Lee Puckett | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption From the Rolling Stones to the Beach Boys, we dig through boxes of vinyl records Funhouse Records owner Bill Barriger and Courier Journal reporter and collector Jeffrey Lee Puckett check out Barriger's recent vinyl acquisition.

Louisville record store owner Bill Barriger has purchased a collection of nearly 300,000 albums.

Many of the records are new old stock from record stores that closed years ago.

Barriger's Funhouse Records is now one of the county's most well-stocked record stores.

Five years ago, Bill Barriger had little interest in used vinyl records and couldn't tell the difference between an LP worth $1 and one worth $100. Now he owns one of the most well-stocked record stores in the United States.

Barriger, who opened Funhouse Records & Audio in the Highlands earlier this year, traveled to Texas two weeks ago to buy a collection of approximately 280,000 LPs and 45s.

That's a lot of records. Check that: It's a crazy amount and the final count may be higher. Even more remarkable, a number of them are new old stock dating back to the 1980s, including unopened shipping boxes from distributors.

In the world of record collectors — and retailers — this is the stuff of dreams, the kind of grail-rich score that could make Barriger's reputation soar among collectors internationally.

He now boasts an inventory of around 325,000 LPs and 45s, give or take 10,000, which easily puts him in elite company. It also makes Funhouse, generously estimated at 500 square feet, the biggest little record store in America.

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"I don't know what I'm going to do with all of these records," said Barriger, 57.

The haul, purchased from a veteran Texas junker, cost $55,000, including transportation. It's fair to ask, why would anyone expend all of this time, money and energy on a format once left for dead?

Despite some very lean years, vinyl was never fully abandoned and its fans are loyal, if not rabid. After the rise of the CD in the 1980s, vinyl production slowed to a crawl but over the last decade or so it has experienced a resurgence.

Sales of new vinyl have risen each of the last 12 years, and in 2017 vinyl claimed a 14-percent share of all physical media sales, the highest since 1991. Those numbers don't include the used market, which is booming as collectors scramble to snatch up rare LPs; nearly 8 million were sold last year on Discogs, an online marketplace/database.

People aren't buying Barbra Streisand and Andy Williams records. They want the good stuff, which is getting increasingly harder to find.

And on a recent visit to Barriger's storage space, a visitor reached into a stack of records and randomly pulled out a 1958 copy of Miles Davis' "Jazz Nights" with vinyl that looked close to pristine. For $175 it's all yours.

Then there was an entire box of unopened copies of Bruce Springsteen's "Live: 1975-85," untouched since shipped by a distributor in 1986.

Barriger has also found two copies of The Beatles' "Yesterday and Today" that are known as second-state "butcher covers." A wholesome cover image is pasted over the original cover, which shows the Beatles in butcher's smocks, snuggling raw meat and baby dolls. Nice copies easily sell for four figures.

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Barriger's partner in the buy is his attorney, Andrew Steere, who cheerfully admits that he doesn't know a damn thing about records. But he has a firm grasp of math and their $55,000 investment could easily be worth five times that.

The seller, Larry Brewer, is in his 80s and thinning out inventory stashed throughout Beaumont, Texas. He told Barriger that over the years he has bought more than 500 record collections, including the entire stock of several stores, but vinyl wasn't a priority.

"He never put a record out for sale," Barriger said. "He said that he meant to but never got around to it but he probably had a million pocket knives for sale. Just an old flea market dude."

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Steere said, "I was suspicious of why the guy was selling all of this, and when I asked him he said, 'Because you asked.' That was good enough for me."

Paul Hershberg is one of Louisville's top collectors. He's both a music lover and an inveterate music acquirer, which means he's also well-versed in selling things he doesn't need or want.

The Texas haul fascinates him because of its size and provenance. He called it a potential "garden of delights" and said that the used record market is flooded, especially locally, with young buyers chasing the kind of classic rock titles that Barriger now has in abundance.

But he also warned that the sheer size of the haul could easily become a problem.

"You need a business model, and record store people and business models don't often go together," he said. "You need staff, you need storage, you need to give away the things that should be given away and a bunch of things that you think shouldn't.

"And when you're done with that you're left with a bunch of really cool stuff and you should just restock your store and blow it out for years."

Travis Searle, co-owner of Louisville's Guestroom Records, 1806 Frankfort Ave., said Barriger's buying of 280,000 records was an act of record store madness. The most he's ever bought in one haul was 25,000 and he said it was overwhelming.

"Yeah, 280,000 is pretty insane," Searle said. "There are lots of distribution companies that don't keep that number of records in stock."

Searle said that when buying collections a retailer will hope that 25 percent are $4 to $8 records, 10 percent are $10 to $25 and two percent command $40 and up.

Barriger and Steere certainly bought a lot of doorstop material, the kind of records you should give away, but because a sizable percentage of the records were store stock and from radio station libraries, there seems to be an unusually large number of good to great titles in well above-average condition.

A truckload of thousands of vinyl records is unloaded after arriving from Texas Want to buy records by the inch? By the pound? Bill Barriger, owner of Funhouse Records in Louisville, just made the purchase of a lifetime.

No more than 15 boxes have been opened and around 60-percent is looking well north of decent, with multiple copies of nearly every release by mainstay acts such as Queen and the Rolling Stones along with rarities such as East of Eden, an obscure English jazz-rock band.

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"There are a lot of solid records but the real money might be in the 45s," Barriger said. "There's lots of small label rockabilly, stuff like that."

Barriger said the sheer number of hours needed to go through the haul began to dawn on him while loading two trucks, including a 52-foot semi. There's still another truck's worth in Texas.

A healthy profit is a certainty but patience is a virtue.

"It's going to take a long, long time," Barriger said. "But it's going to be fun."

Jeffrey Lee Puckett: 502-582-4160; jpuckett@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @JLeePuckett. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/jeffreyl.

Funhouse Records & Audio

Funhouse Records & Audio, 1906 Bardstown Road, can now claim one of the nation's biggest inventories of used records. Here's a look at how Funhouse's stock of 325,000 records stacks up against America's best vinyl stores:

Bananas Music, Tampa, Forida, 3.5 million

Jerry's Records, Pittsburgh, 1 million

Bill's Records, Dallas, Texas, 1 million

Kanesville Kollectibles, Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1 million

Amoeba Music, California, 1 million spread over three stores

Euclid Records, New Orleans, 300,000

National Vinyl Record Day

WHAT: National Vinyl Record Day is a good time to reminisce about the “Good Ole Days.” Stop by a vinyl record store in your town and use #VinylRecordDay to post on social media.

WHEN: Sunday

MORE INFORMATION: Check with your local record retailers to see about any special events or pricing.