Thousands of records, VHS tapes, and other items were lost at Bric-A-Brac Records & Collectibles in Avondale after pipes burst during the weekend’s deep freeze.
After four frozen pipes burst on Christmas Day, store owners said they lost at least 4,000 LPs, a couple thousand VHS tapes, and vintage toys.
“It was flooding so much up here, it just went down to the basement and it was spewing down the walls, just getting through any crack, nook and cranny, you can find,” co-owner Nick Mayor explained.
The mayor cut short his family’s Christmas celebration in Alabama to return to Chicago to deal with the disaster. Jennifer Lemasters, his wife, stayed behind and was the first to inspect the damage.
“I was kinda of prepared to just like burst into tears when I first saw it, but I think since it was only half of the shop, I felt lucky it wasn’t everything,” she explained.
Bric-A-Brac specializes in rare albums, 1980s and 1990s vintage toys, VHS tapes, and other collectibles. Horror movie soundtracks are one of the store’s signature record collections.
“People come to us for our soundtrack selection and that was one of the three bins that took the brunt of the water;100% of that inventory is gone,” said Mayor.
Insurance will cover the financial loss, but hard-to-find inventory that is destroyed cannot be replaced.
“It’s vintage and even the new product is hyper limited,” Mayor explained.
Bric-A-Brac has been owned by Mayor and Lemasters for ten years. They relocated to a larger space on Milwaukee Avenue in Avondale exactly one year ago.
“The most daunting part is it feels like we are going to have to start all over again a little bit,” Lemasters said.
The shop is expected to reopen in January. Meanwhile, the owners have stated that they are looking to purchase hard-to-find LPs and vintage toys.
Leave a Reply