About a year and a half into Gimme Gimme Records’ existence in New York City’s East Village, a leak erupted from an upstairs tenant and landed directly on the only section of CDs. Shop owner and founder Dan Cook says he took the leak – supposedly caused by an upstairs tenant falling asleep while filling the bathtub – “as a sign from God.”
Cook admits that the CD section was quite paltry despite it being the mid-1990s, but he still decided to stick strictly with vinyl going forward.
Plus, he could stick with the tried and tested format since the small space he rented on East 5th Street was incredibly cheap. It was a small storefront, painted forest green with an overhang informing passersby that they both bought and sold records, that Cook shared with “an eccentric dude” who sold items he found on the street and taught piano lessons in the mornings.
“The building was kind of crummy, honestly,” says Cook of the space he rented out a little over 30 years ago. “We were right next to the 9th Precinct, the police station, so kind of odd vibes for a record store. But for cheap rent, you put up with a lot.”
Despite the eccentric neighbors in the “old East Village,” as Cook puts it, the store was a legitimizing step up from the flea market where he was used to selling his collection. Growing up in Massachusetts, Cook was obsessed with vinyl and would buy records from yard sales and flip them at local record stores for albums he actually wanted. “Then, I moved to New York City and tried doing the same thing, and the stores were not as generous. It was just like, ‘here is 11 cents credit.’” he says, “So, I started saving them up and selling at the Chelsea flea market.”
The store was only open Thursday through Sunday and served as a side business for Cook, who also worked at a bookstore and was the lead vocalist for the Matador Records-signed Lynnfield Pioneers, which formed in 1996 and disbanded by 2000. The band was self-described as “hip-hop-no-wave,” which seems fitting for Cook who calls himself and his store “generalist.”
“That’s something that used to set me apart in New York, being a generalist. I like all types of music. If I go through a box of country records or a box of hip-hop records, I know the good ones,” says Cook. “It broadens my opportunities to bring in stuff.”
The pre-streaming era was ripe with genre purists, but besides some questioning glances, Cook’s love for all kinds of music set him up for success whether it is purchasing new vinyl or sifting through used collections. A genre-agnostic store is more of the norm today and suits the pedestrian traffic of Gimme Gimme’s new location in Highland Park, a retro-leaning neighborhood in Los Angeles.
After 18 years in the New York location (and a rent increase of only $50 from 1994 to 2012), the owner of the East Village location sold the building and Cook decided to move the collection to Highland Park where he and his wife had moved in 2010. For two years, Cook had been assessing vinyl inventory over Skype with friends who were running the shop in New York. But once the building had a new owner, Cook found a 1,200 sq. ft. location on Highland Park’s York Boulevard. The street is full of vintage clothing and furniture shops, small cafes, a 100-year-old bowling alley and plenty of popular restaurants that keep the foot traffic steady in front of the new Gimme Gimme Records.
But the high concentration of vintage lovers also means there’s lots of competition in the area. There are six record stores within a half mile of Gimme Gimme Records, which Cook says both helps and hurts.
“Getting record collections is super competitive,” Cook explains. “I am not just competing with other record stores. There are people with Discogs or eBay and that’s their side hustle.”
On the bright side, having that many record stores in one area makes it a destination for folks visiting. The vinyl enthusiasts and foot traffic are especially valuable since Gimme no longer hosts live shows (they weren’t worth the effort) or sell much outside of its roughly 10,000-15,000 vinyl collection (Cook also collects and sells photography and art books that make up about 2% of Gimme sales).
With about 60% new and 40% used records and a hearty selection of all genres, Gimme is seeing Cook’s generalist tendencies paying off. When the store opened more than 30 years ago, Cook says the clientele was almost exclusively male, but now it’s not uncommon for him to look up from his back counter and see all genders and generations.
“When I first opened the store, it was just sweaty dudes. That’s a cliche, not everyone was, but now its teenagers coming in and grandma/granddaughter duos coming in,” says Cook. “It’s really amazing to see.”
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