Walking down Salem Street in Downtown Apex around lunchtime on Thursday, the beeps of a construction truck in reverse mixed with the sounds of Muddy Waters coming from a small white speaker sitting on the transom above a door to a stairwell.
If you followed that sound–which you should–you’d ascend past vintage lamps to the recently-opened Hunky Dory record shop.
It’s the fourth location of the Triangle area record stores owned by Michael Bell. Other locations are in Downtown Cary, Raleigh Iron Works, and Durham.
Bell said he decided to open the Apex shop after considering Pittsboro as the next location. Part of the reasoning was the area’s walkability and the improvements coming to Salem Street. Then he saw the space in Downtown Apex.
“I just fell in love with that building as soon as I saw it,” he said.
Above an antique store–his landlord–historic details abound. Bell notes the exposed brick and the glass-paneled doors with painted “Physician” and “Private.” He’s outfitted the space with vintage and thrifted furnishings, and in one room, scraped flooring that covered a red-and-black checkerboard tile.
“It’s got some charm to it.”
There are five rooms in Hunky Dory’s space, which gives them room to grow. Rusty, the rocking horse purchased downstairs from Antiques on Salem Street, serves as a bouncer to rooms still in progress. Records are in three of the rooms for now.
The inventory on Thursday had an impressive collection of the classics, such as The Beatles (including “Revolver”) and The Smithereens, with tabs for Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder in the crates.
Hunky Dory purchases used records, and a good number of people have dropped off vinyl to sell so far, Bell said. The collection for sale on the floor also comes from storage, a deep well of thousands of records.
In the future, he envisions one room will have CDs and cassettes, plus an old-school screen and VCR. Another will have plastic-wrapped reissues and newer selections. For now, it’s used records at this location.
One difference between the Apex location and others is that it won’t offer craft beer. Bell says he stopped drinking alcohol 2 ½ years ago, so this location is “Sally Sober” in terms of offerings, but it’s within the Downtown Apex social district.
People can easily purchase beer or wine from downstairs neighbor HighCraft and bring it up to peruse records and hang out. Sodas, water, and hemp beverages will be available for purchase.
Bell said that despite the construction on Salem Street, he sees it as an established area with “a little record store to add to that.” He may expand hours once construction is complete, but for now, the hours are 12-8 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays.
Find it: 114 N. Salem Street, Apex, at hunkydoryvinyl.com or on Instagram @hunkydoryapex.
Record Store Day: Apex will not have Record Store Day releases for Saturday, but the other locations, including Downtown Cary, will. Hunky Dory made limited purchases based on what vinyl fans shared in a customer survey, Bell said.