I started my record collection after getting a paper round aged 12 - now I have my own store
If you live in Wolverhampton and and have a passion for music you've almost certainly met Claire Howell.
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The 55-year-old is the owner of the city's only independent record store whose love for vinyl started when she got her first job as a 12-year-old delivering papers. She then started her collection with her £4.50 weekly wages by copping records from Woolworths.
Claire, who moved from Dorset to Pelsall, Walsall more than three decades ago made her hobby a profession when she was 23 by wheelin' and deelin' in record fairs - before making the jump and setting up her own store in South Wales before brining it to the Black Country.
The veteran wax-dealer has been an ever-present in the city for the last 13 years, with her most recent store being located on Cleveland St, Wolverhampton, but before that was jetting around the world selling at record fairs and shows across Europe and even in the USA.
Speaking to the Express & Star earlier this week, Claire said that she'd built a loyal customer-base in the city, some who have been coming to the shop for decades and others who are new and regularly visit to add to their collection.
One of the best parts of the job - she said - is when one of her regulars asks for something that's a tough find due to how rare it is, and weeks or days later she delivers and manages to track the item down for them, noting it as a 'special moment'.
But it's not all sunshine and rainbows, as she sad some can get quite competitive for her stock and occasionally multiple people will be after the same record so she'll have sell it to whoever saw it first - while reminding customers to create a 'wish-list' and give it to her.
The wish-list is the customer's most sought-after records, and when Claire knows what it is she makes sure to do her upmost to get each one ticked off, but she 'can't do it' if she doesn't know.
A veteran in the city and a passionate collector, Claire said she enjoys her job so much because she's a customer as well, a collector just like her regulars and understands the passion involved in snagging memorabilia that matters for it's sentimental value.
