By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
A dream shared by a father and son has come to fruition in the opening of Goat Records in downtown Bowling Green.
Radio professional Mark Gedert, 57, has spent a lot of time, and money, at record stores, since he first fell in love with music lying in front of his family hi fi console.
His son, Alex Gedert, 27, picked up that love from his father, as a young teen scouring his father’s collections for audio treasures and accompanying on vinyl hunting trips. The younger Gedert worked for Allied Records for six years.
Not surprisingly they’ve been spinning around the idea of opening their own used record store for about five years.
That dream shop, Goat Records at 126 W. Wooster in downtown Bowling Green, will celebrate its grand opening Saturday, April 6 from noon to 3 p.m. The grand opening will feature door prizes, discounts, live music and more.
“It really comes down to a love of records,” Alex said. He’s the manager of the store. Family friend Phil Brice will also work in the store.
They felt there was a niche for used records in BG, Mark, whose resume includes stints at WOHO, Kiss FM, and K100, said. They felt they could fill it.
Some of the records in the shop came from the Gedert collection of several thousand platters.
And they’ve bought a couple collections to get them started. Pop rock is their strongest suit, but they have a smattering of all styles which they hope to build on.
They will pay cash or a higher amount of store credit for items. They use discogs.com as the pricing guide.
They also have vintage stereo equipment on display. Once it’s been cleaned and serviced, they will sell it.
Mark said there’s a demand for older equipment which produces better sound and holds up better thana lot of flimsier new product.
To go along with the vintage music, Goat Music also houses the BiG SUe Vintage shop. That’s the brainchild of Julie Gedert, Mark’ wife and Alex’ mother, and the operation’s “silent partner.”.
Julie has always loved vintage items, and the smaller room at the back of the shop was an ideal location to showcase that. Julie has always been supportive of his collecting. She wait patiently as he thumbed through racks of records. “She knew this was a dream of mine,” Mark said.
The BiG SUe name has BGSU embedded in it, and the shop’s goat mascot has a tag with Sue on it.
The Woodville family has ties to BG. Alex played many years of youth hockey in town. And both he and his father frequented Finders Records.
Boogie Records is another shop that Mark would hang out in. He would be at Boogie Record two to three times a week when he was younger. He credits the owner Pat O’Connor, founder of Boogie Records and Culture Clash, with fostering his habit. “He’s the guy I blame for all this.”
And Alex picked up the passion for vinyl from his father. He was already interested in music, and vinyl was a natural extension of that.
He plays guitar, drums, and bass, and is a member of the band Dernier Adieu.
They hope to get involved in the down scene. participating in Art Walk, the Black Swamp Arts Festival, and other events.
The shop’s regular hours will be Monday, 4-8 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m., Saturday, -7 p.m., and closed Sundays.
