Pete Stidman is the co-owner of Wax Trax. (BusinessDen illustration)
For its 50th anniversary, Wax Trax is dropping a new release in the Highlands.
The Denver record store will open a fourth location at 3641 W. 32nd Ave. on Oct. 11. Co-owner Pete Stidman has been targeting the west side of town for a while, which he said lacks good places to pick up vinyl.
“All those people west of I-25, I figure, are probably ordering records online,” he said. “I-25 is just a mental barrier.”
Stidman, an East High graduate, likes the local feel of the spot, which he said made it stand out compared with other nearby areas, like nearby Tennyson Street in the Berkeley neighborhood.
“Tennyson and stuff, I think that’s starting to attract more chain stores. So it’s kind of our vibe on 32nd,” Stidman said.
Wax Trax has been growing fast in the 2020s — “probably faster than I should,” Stidman quipped. He came back to Denver in 2020 after a two-decade stint in Boston and bought out co-owner Duane Davis in 2022, leaving him and his dad as owners.
Wax Trax opened in 1975. In addition to its longtime Cap Hill store, the business added a second location at 200 S. Broadway in 2023 and a pop-up spot in Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace last year. The former is “doing good,” and the latter is “holding steady,” Stidman said.
But even with the growth, sales across the stores have not yet hit their mid-1990s zenith, when the business was generating roughly $3 million in sales, Stidman said.
“I will say that we are approaching, dollar wise, what we did at the peak in the ’90s, but then, adjusted for inflation, maybe not,” Stidman said.
And expenses have gone up all the while. A marketing brochure for the space advertised the base rent at $4,270 a month, with an additional $1,300 in monthly building expenses. The store will occupy a 1,000-square-foot storefront and have an additional 500 square feet in the basement for nonretail use.
But the 53-year-old added that the market for records is firmly back in the groove. And his local retail operation has the edge this time around. Stidman started working at Wax Trax when he was 12, and the business was “surrounded” by competitors. Now, he’s one of the only players left in the game.
“Going to a record store is also part of the whole record thing. It’s an experience to go to, because behind the counter we have a bunch of music nerds who really know everything there is to know,” he said.
“Having that experience locally, where people can walk to it, is a competitive advantage.”
New releases, used records, cassettes, CDs and 8-tracks will be for sale alongside hi-fi digs and other audio accessories.
But what are the kids listening to these days anyway? Well, for starters, hip-hop is in. Stidman said he sells more hip-hop records per floor space than anything else. About three-fifths of sales come from new releases and the remainder from used vinyl.
“About a third of Denver is Latino. And so we get a lot of people looking for Mexican regional music and stuff like that,” he added.
Prices for new records, too, are about the same when adjusted for inflation, he added. In the mid-’80s, a new album would run you about $8, Stidman said. Today, that’s around $26. Wax Trax also has cheaper options, too, like its $1 used record section.
“You know, as much as people complain about it, it’s really not off track from what it was,” he said.
Pete Stidman is the co-owner of Wax Trax. (BusinessDen illustration)
For its 50th anniversary, Wax Trax is dropping a new release in the Highlands.
The Denver record store will open a fourth location at 3641 W. 32nd Ave. on Oct. 11. Co-owner Pete Stidman has been targeting the west side of town for a while, which he said lacks good places to pick up vinyl.
“All those people west of I-25, I figure, are probably ordering records online,” he said. “I-25 is just a mental barrier.”
Stidman, an East High graduate, likes the local feel of the spot, which he said made it stand out compared with other nearby areas, like nearby Tennyson Street in the Berkeley neighborhood.
“Tennyson and stuff, I think that’s starting to attract more chain stores. So it’s kind of our vibe on 32nd,” Stidman said.
Wax Trax has been growing fast in the 2020s — “probably faster than I should,” Stidman quipped. He came back to Denver in 2020 after a two-decade stint in Boston and bought out co-owner Duane Davis in 2022, leaving him and his dad as owners.
Wax Trax opened in 1975. In addition to its longtime Cap Hill store, the business added a second location at 200 S. Broadway in 2023 and a pop-up spot in Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace last year. The former is “doing good,” and the latter is “holding steady,” Stidman said.
But even with the growth, sales across the stores have not yet hit their mid-1990s zenith, when the business was generating roughly $3 million in sales, Stidman said.
“I will say that we are approaching, dollar wise, what we did at the peak in the ’90s, but then, adjusted for inflation, maybe not,” Stidman said.
And expenses have gone up all the while. A marketing brochure for the space advertised the base rent at $4,270 a month, with an additional $1,300 in monthly building expenses. The store will occupy a 1,000-square-foot storefront and have an additional 500 square feet in the basement for nonretail use.
But the 53-year-old added that the market for records is firmly back in the groove. And his local retail operation has the edge this time around. Stidman started working at Wax Trax when he was 12, and the business was “surrounded” by competitors. Now, he’s one of the only players left in the game.
“Going to a record store is also part of the whole record thing. It’s an experience to go to, because behind the counter we have a bunch of music nerds who really know everything there is to know,” he said.
“Having that experience locally, where people can walk to it, is a competitive advantage.”
New releases, used records, cassettes, CDs and 8-tracks will be for sale alongside hi-fi digs and other audio accessories.
But what are the kids listening to these days anyway? Well, for starters, hip-hop is in. Stidman said he sells more hip-hop records per floor space than anything else. About three-fifths of sales come from new releases and the remainder from used vinyl.
“About a third of Denver is Latino. And so we get a lot of people looking for Mexican regional music and stuff like that,” he added.
Prices for new records, too, are about the same when adjusted for inflation, he added. In the mid-’80s, a new album would run you about $8, Stidman said. Today, that’s around $26. Wax Trax also has cheaper options, too, like its $1 used record section.
“You know, as much as people complain about it, it’s really not off track from what it was,” he said.
