Shawn Cephas is opening a new vinyl-focused record shop in Phoenixville later this month. He hopes it will capture the spirit of King James Records, the legendary Philadelphia chain of record stores owned by his father for more than three decades. Dan Shalin spun through the details for the Patch.

Forever Changes’ genesis started two years ago as a pop-up vinyl shop in Phoenixville.

Cephas launched it with the memory of his dad’s stores, which closed after his death in 1997. In its heyday, chain was a popular gathering place for music lovers.

“On hot summer days, people would come into the store to cool down in the air conditioning and listen to music,” said Cephas. “Almost always, [customers] would leave with a record in hand.”

Eventually, albums were replaced by CDs and streaming services. However, vinyl collecting has once again begun gaining momentum, which prompted Cephas to turn his pop-up into a permanent site.

 “[People discovered] they liked looking at an album’s cover art, picking up a record, dropping the needle, and listening carefully to the warm sounds before turning it over,” he said.

Read more about Forever Changes in the Patch.