Vinyl revivals and cycles of nostalgia at Cheap Thrills

In the middle of a bland cluster of hotel and office towers on Metcalfe Street downtown is a lone 19th-century greystone that’s somehow survived the purportedly inexorable march of progress. Dwarfed by its neighbours, the building is a relic of a long-forgotten time, when today’s downtown was a more residential neighbourhood.

On the second floor, you’ll find Cheap Thrills, the second of a pair of record stores that’s been part of this city’s cultural fabric since 1971 (the first opened in 1971; this Metcalfe location was their second, opened in 1984).

Just as its architectural setting has resisted modernization, Cheap Thrills has endured shifting trends in music distribution and has kept pace with passing waves of nostalgia. Owner Gary Worsley started there as an employee 24 years ago and bought the shop in 2019. “It’s more or less the same as it was back then,” he says. “It’s like a time warp in here.”