Oldest record shop ready for move

Spillers will be moving from the Hayes after more than sixty years

The Cardiff store dubbed the oldest record shop in the world is moving from its home of the last 60 years.

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 rising city centre rents mean the store will open its doors on The Hayes for the final time on Saturday.

Spillers is moving to the nearby Morgan Arcade initially on a trial basis but possibly permanent if it goes well.

Nick Todd has kept Spillers Records open against the odds

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

Staff have been inundated by messages of support from customers during recent weeks of uncertainty.

Mr Todd hoped they would fare better in one of Cardiff's Victorian arcades than in what he described as "corporate alley".

"You've got to be positive - the Hayes has outgrown a business like ours," he said.

"I like the idea of going into the Morgan Arcade - we're more of an old-part-of-the-city business."

In his 36 years at Spillers - eleven as manager, the rest as owner - Mr Todd said he had many great memories of visiting stars.

The original Spillers shop opened in the Queen's Arcade in 1894

Two of them - Billy Bragg and Phill Jupitus - even stepped behind the counter to serve customers.

"They'd both been in the shop a number of times prior to that - they're both people who like independent record shops," he said.

"It was a lovely atmosphere."

He hoped it was a good omen that Spillers would be moving into premises which had been occupied by two other record shops in the past.

But he revealed that he would be handing over the running of the shop to his daughter Ashli - "she's got more go in her."

The original store was opened by Henry Spiller in the Queen's Arcade in Cardiff in 1894, selling music on wax cylinders and shellac discs.

Spillers moved in the late 1940s to The Hayes where it became a mecca for fans and musicians alike.

Super Furry Animals, Cerys Matthews, the Coral and the Zutons are among the musicians who have regularly visited the store.

Staff hope to reopen Spillers in its new location by mid July.