Inside beloved long-established Leeds record shop constantly reinventing itself and selling myriad of genres

Jumbo Records in Leeds was founded by Hunter Smith, who played reggae and soul records around the city, and seeing there was a demand for these records, opened up the shop in 1971.

Over the years, Jumbo Records has morphed into selling a myriad of genres.

It has had a number of homes in Leeds, including the Merrion Centre twice (the store’s current location), the St John's Centre and the Queen's Arcade.

Nick Fraser - owner of Jumbo Records

Nick Fraser, owner of Jumbo Records, said: “Before getting involved as the owner of Jumbo, I was a customer of Jumbo and it was the principal reason why I'd come into town was my regular Saturday trips to Jumbo, to chat to the team, get recommendations. It was just one of those places that you just liked to be.

“What has also grown out of this over the last few years is the amount of relationships, friendships with customers as well. You just get to know people.

“The lockdown paid a part in that because I carried on doing deliveries all through lockdown and you get to knock on people's doors and socially distance, hand them the records, and everyone's desperate for a chat because no one's seen anyone. All of a sudden you get to know lots of people in a way you might not otherwise have done so.

“It's great fun. On the other side, it's constantly trying to reinvent and recreate. You can't say we're a good record shop, we've got a great selection of records, we've got great staff that love talking to people about music. That isn't enough. You've just got to keep coming up with ideas of things to stay relevant.”

Aidan - Jumbo Records

Aidan from Jumbo Records said: “In an age of AI and instant gratification and easy access of resources it’s more important than ever to shop at independent places because you actually get to speak to real people.

“The beauty of a vinyl record is a physical object which I think taps into a need, that people who are into music want that more communal experience or they want a more tactile listening experience.

“A really formative memory of Jumbo for me is I was playing in a band at the time and we had a record out on 7-inch vinyl and the guy from the label was like, go into Jumbo and Adam will show you the record before it comes out, this was like a few days before it came out and I was so excited.

“I remember Adam going behind the counter and pulling out my band's 7-inch record and showing it to me and that's something I always remember and something that, now that I work here, is always worth remembering is that by selling records you always are potentially making someone's day.

“You are offering an experience to people and potentially changing someone's life by selling them their first record so I always try and remember that.”