New record store opens on converted canal boat
The migrating shop is currently between Leeds and Manchester with a collection of over 2,000 records
A new migrating record store has opened within a converted canal boat on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Rubber Ducky Records.
The new store, which also contains a café, is currently docked in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire and specialises in second-hand electronic releases — with a staggering library of 2,000 records.
Rubber Ducky Records took 15 years to build and although it is now located between Leeds and Manchester, owner Myles Greenwood plans to take the boat all over the UK via canal waterways.
Greenwood, Rubber Ducky Records’ founder and formerly of Swiss store LeGram Vinyl Garden (which will soon be relocating to Lyon, France), told Mixmag: “I’m hoping to take it to Hebden Bridge, and then in a couple of weeks I’ll probably take it to Leeds.
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“It’s nice to keep moving because it gets people coming from different places,” he continued.
After moving back to the UK from Switzerland in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, Greenwood had originally hoped to open a bricks-and-mortar store in the centre of Leeds. Sky-high rents forced him to rethink his vision, eventually leading him to refit an old canal boat into the shop as a creative workaround.
The idea came to him while he was wandering around the canal systems of the north of England while the country was in lockdown. “At the time the government was basically propping up small businesses’ rents because of COVID,” he said. “So nothing was coming available – it was not happening at all.
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“So I just thought: ‘All the cities are connected by the canal – why don’t I just buy a boat?’” he continued.
Rubber Ducky Records will focus on pre-owned vinyl, with music ranging from house, trance, 90s rave, techno and breaks.
Though much of the current stock has been sourced from buying up the old collections of DJs, friends and vinyl enthusiasts, Greenwood plans to start working with labels and distributors to stock new releases in the near future.
“I think the stock and collection is really good,” he said. “Everyone who’s digging seems really happy with what they’re finding – that’s important.”
Isaac Muk is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter