A popular West London record store and cultural space is opening a second branch in Stoke Newington in late spring.
As announced last weekend on its Instagram account, Next Door Records will be taking over the property at 182 Stoke Newington Road with plans to open around May after renovations are complete.
Having been friends from their childhood and through studying music at universities in Leeds and Newcastle, co-owners Louis Raworth, Thom Parris and Alfie Aukett decided to open their flagship store in Shepherd’s Bush back in 2020 out of a desire to share their love for record digging, gigs, and electronic music within a cultural space.
Raworth explained why they chose Stoke Newington for their new store: “We’ve managed to build quite a strong community base within Shepherd’s Bush. In the [area’s] creative landscape there’s a lot of music and a lot of art…
“We saw the same thing with Stoke Newington, if not more, as there’s loads of great record shops we look up to around here and lots of great venues as well. But [it’s] quite spaced out [so] we saw Stoke Newington as an area we would fit into.”
More than just a record store
Next Door Records has become far more than just a destination for record collectors, with the store’s popularity evolving through running as a café, bar, bottle shop, and music venue for small gigs, radio station takeovers, and late-night DJ sets.
They have also collaborated with restaurants Whyte Rushen and Taco Collective, and BBC Good Food and Mob Kitchen writers to host pop-up food events and supper clubs for intimate dining experiences, as the diversity of their operations has helped them thrive in the post-pandemic climate.
The new store will be slightly larger, and Raworth is excited about how they can continue their success in Stoke Newington.
“The big difference between this one and Shepherd’s Bush is we’ve got a little venue in the basement,” Raworth says. “Instead of on weekdays [hosting] live music and supper clubs, and on weekends focus more on DJ-stuff, having a venue in the basement [means] you’ll see us having one event going on which will always be free and open to the public, and then the basement will be another event going on.”
Having free events is important for Next Door Records to enable its community to access their cultural programme whilst the cost-of-living crisis is ongoing.
“The inclusive nature of venues is so important, especially when you’re trying to be community-focused where people can come and meet each other,” says Raworth. “We don’t think anyone should be turned away from being involved in the arts and cultural sector. So, we’ve always tried to push as many free events as possible.”
Reflecting on managing a new business with friends all in their mid-twenties, Raworth feels grateful for the support of the team who have joined the business.
“Next Door Records initially was our three’s collective passion,” he explains. “But now it’s become a much bigger thing we started getting a bigger team around us, [and] that’s what actually really helped make the business operate. It’s not just on our own back, [and] I’m sure the same will hopefully happen in East.”
With the official opening date dependent on when the final renovations will be finished, they hope to open the new store with a month-long programme of launch events to welcome in the local Stoke Newington community.
