In with the old: House of Vinyl opens in Downtown Pittsburgh

Dominic Means grew up buying vinyls from Jerry's Records in Squirrel Hill. On Friday, he cut the ribbon on his own shop, House of Vinyl.

"The city of Pittsburgh has always meant a lot to me, and I just want to keep the history of music alive here," Means said.

To get to the records, customers first have to walk through Sports World Specialties, his father Dan's business.

"It's the best thing you can imagine," Dan said about his son opening up shop right upstairs. Means grew up working summers in the sports card shop.

The three-story building is essentially a father-and-son's living museum.

Past a trove of signed baseball cards, vintage bats, helmets and footballs, up a spiral staircase, Means sells an inventory of roughly 4,000 records, alongside CDs and posters.

House of Vinyl is full of any music-lovers' dreams: a drum head signed by Beatles drummer, Pete Best; a signed Alice in Chains poster; another poster of The Voice judges (Gwen Stefani, Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams and Blake Shelton), also signed. Popular recent albums, including Tyler, The Creator's "Flowerboy" and Taylor Swift's "evermore" go for $20.

In the glass display case at checkout is a signed CD of the late Mac Miller's "GO:OD AM" album; autographs of B.B. King and Whitney Houston; ticket stubs from ‘80s concerts in Germany.

Above the CDs-for-$5 section, big yellow letters slant down the length of the second-floor staircase, spelling out "The Decade." That was the bar Means' grandfather owned, and whose walls reverberated with the music of U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Police, Cindy Lauper, Bruce Springsteen and Aerosmith, to name a few. The Decade closed in 1995.

Up another flight of stairs is Dan's personal collection, which includes one of Roberto Clemente's Pirates uniforms and bomber jackets. Signed posters of Muhammad Ali (some penned under his birth name, Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.), racks of wooden bats and faded blue stadium seats from Forbes Field in Oakland adorn the room.

Means laughed as he recalled that this floor had once been offices for a Hallmark card store.

The two businesses complement one another "really well," Means said, and his father's collectibles - the ones on sale, that is - sets them apart from any other store.

"We are so thrilled to welcome House of Vinyl to the second floor of 645 Smithfield," said Cate Irvin, senior director of economic development for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. She held one end of the red ribbon.

"Sports World Specialties has been a staple in Downtown since 1986, and in this building since 2006. We're thrilled that you're adding a new layer to that, Dom."

Means, 27 of Squirrel Hill, started collecting records in high school.

He went to see Soundgarden at Stage AE on the North Shore when he was 12, before frontman Chris Cornell passed away. Growing up with Nirvana and Alice in Chains on the radio, his taste favored ‘90s rock and roll. Then he discovered Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. His favorite band of all time is Cage the Elephant - and at home, he has every one of their albums, signed by the entire band. His personal record collection sits somewhere around 1,000 (alphabetical organization is critical in this business, he said).

In 2019, Means decided to go all-in on not only collecting, but selling online. Around 80% of his and his fathers' business happens online, he said. Dan alone has over 11,000 items on eBay.

Seven years later, Means took over the second floor of his father's store, and bumped his father's personal collection up another flight of stairs.

While Means always wants to sell titles that people like to play, and at affordable prices, he said in the next five years, he hopes to get his hands on more "high-end, exclusive" records.

"I hope to be here for many, many years," Means said.

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