Shop of the week: The Centre For Better Grooves/Paul Roberts Hi-Fi

Nestled in the array of colourful shops and bars on Gloucester Road is Paul Roberts Hi-Fi. Having recently decided to team up with The Centre For Better Grooves vinyl record shop, owned by Gordon Montgomery (founder of Fopp and former director of Rise), the result is a fresh, airy shop for music lovers.

A sleek display of quality handmade hi-fi systems, speakers and vinyl record players sit in the front, while at the back is the vinyl shop: neatly laid out in alphabetical order (like a proper record shop) with popping orange and white walls and a rather lovely pot plant called Seymour.

Good quality hi-fi systems and speakers are available at Paul Roberts Hi-Fi, open for 22 years

Martin Galer, co-owner of Paul Roberts Hi-Fi who has run the shop for the past 22 years, met Gordon while travelling. Together, they decided that downsizing the current shop floor would benefit Martin’s business, and that bringing Gordon into the Gloucester Road indie trade district by giving the back half over to him would be a good fit. It seems to be working very much in their favour so far. “There’s synergies between the two businesses,” says Gordon. “They fit very well, so we both benefit in terms of sales.” Martin adds that it seems to be the modern way – to diversify the business through collaboration.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed for Martin how Gloucester Road has changed over the past few years, progressing from a street where closed-down shops were a common sight for years, to one which is dominated by charity shops and cafes. “’Cause you can’t buy coffee off the internet, can you?” chips in Gordon with a wry smile. But both men are confident that their independent business will flourish thanks to their shrewd business management and remain resolutely unfazed by the encroachment of internet shopping.

Many of the products Paul Roberts Hi-Fi sell are handmade

At the back of the shop, where The Centre For Better Grooves is based, Gordon is in his element. He prides himself on knowing the value of his vinyls and prices them accordingly. He gets most stock in from the US, primarily New York and Philadelphia, which appeals to his regulars’ tastes and provides a far wider range of music than would be found by primarily sourcing them in the UK. What’s great to hear is Gordon’s forward-thinking mindset when it comes to the clientele: he takes pride in the fact he’s got several ABBA records in stock, not only as an effort to do away with music snobbery in the vinyl sales business, but also to provide stock that he ultimately hopes will attract a more diverse range of customers.  “One of my aims is to get a new female customer a week,” he says. “I don’t want the shop to just be for male collectors.”

For these guys, it’s all about the love of music, and an appreciation of high-quality sound. However accessible Spotify or YouTube might be for young music listeners, coming into the shop and listening to a vinyl through their twin speakers evokes a deep, rich analogue sound that you just can’t get from any other kind of sound system. “It’s not just buying a new record. Half of it is the fact you’ve got the record, and there’s a story behind it, but the sound is ultimately what it’s all about. Music is there to be listened to,”  Martin says.

The Centre for Better Grooves sells vinyl from the back of the shop

What’s striking about this shop is how the vinyl revival has re-introduced an attentive and focused appreciation of music to a new generation of listeners. Young people browse the aisles as Gordon puts on Survival of the Fittest by The Headhunters (minus Herbie Hancock, plus the Pointer Sisters), and the effect is incredible. Vinyl, more than any other mode of listening, encourages an intimate feeling, like the band is playing in the room with you, and as the jazz-funk-fusion plays it’s hard not to visualise fingers working at guitar frets in a glorious ’70s recording studio.

So what does the future hold for this team? “I mean retail is really struggling, isn’t it?” says Gordon.  “So I engage with the customers, and keep them. That’s the skill: get to know them, find out exactly what they want. Service.” Martin nods and chips in – “The only thing we can offer above anything else is the level of service.”

But for the moment, this duo are keeping their heads above water. “The only thing that’ll close this business down is if I fall below forty Miles Davis records,” Gordon says with a grin. A flick through the meticulously organised shelves says they’ll be alright for a while yet..

Paul Roberts Hi-Fi / The Centre For Better Grooves
33 Gloucester Road, Bristol, BS7 8AA
www.paulrobertshi-fi.co.uk
www.facebook.com/The-Centre-For-Better-Grooves