Oldest record shop seeks new home

By Andy Roberts
BBC South East Wales

Nick Todd has kept Spillers Records open against the odds

The Cardiff store dubbed the oldest record shop in the world could close unless it finds new premises.

Spillers Records - founded in 1894 - has been hailed as a 'lifeline' by the Manic Street Preachers who say it's where they got their musical education.

But owner Nick Todd says rising city centre rents mean they have to move after more than 60 years in The Hayes.

"We have to be out by the 30th of June and we are working on the alternative at the moment," he said.

Mr Todd refused to comment on the prospect of finding new premises, but he said that the opening of the new St David's shopping centre opposite his store had had "no net effect" on his business.

He previously put Spillers up for sale in 2006 but has continued to run the shop following public campaigns to save it from closure.

Spillers has been a mecca for music fans and bands alike for decades

The latest threat to the future of Spillers comes as the store is celebrated in a BBC Radio 2 programme about the history of independent record shops.

When Henry Spiller opened his original premises in the Queen's Arcade in Cardiff in 1894, he sold music on wax cylinders and shellac discs.

Spillers moved to its present location in the late 1940s where it has become a mecca for fans and musicians alike.

In the programme - Last Orders at the Spinning Disc - Frank Hennessy tells presenter Pete Waterman how Spillers has managed to ward off multiple closure threats and compete against supermarkets and digital downloads.

Super Furry Animals, Cerys Matthews, the Coral and the Zutons are among the musicians highlighted by the programme as regular visitors to the store.

Last Orders At The Spinning Disc - What's Happened To Record Shops? was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Tuesday 18 May at 2200 BST