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A 65-year-old who has been living his boyhood fantasy of owning a record store has put his beloved shop on the market.
Martin Eastman and wife Chris have been running B'side the C'side in Herne Bay High Street since 2013.
But they have decided to relocate to Essex and placed an asking price of £350,000 on the freehold for the store.
“We’ve lived the dream,” Mr Eastman said.
“I’ve wanted to own one ever since I bought my first record in 1962. We originally came from Essex and are going back to be nearer our family.
“It is a shame, but we’re trying to sell it as a going concern because we believe every town should have a record shop, especially a vinyl one.”
The business has been on the market since January and the couple is hoping to up sticks by the end of the year.
Mr Eastman insists his business has been unaffected by the rise of music downloads and streaming platforms, such as Spotify and Amazon Music.
Instead, he believes vinyls have become increasingly popular among people between the ages of 20 and 30 in recent years.
“We’ve always traded really well here,” he added.
“With the surge in vinyls it’s been good - iPods and streaming services haven’t affected us at all.
“A lot of kids have come into the shop and discovered vinyl.
“They’re not just buying things like Bowie and the Beatles.
“They’re getting into lots of obscure stuff like jazz.”
The building has been advertised online as having the potential to house another type of business.
Mr Eastman says he has been approached by prospective buyers who have wanted to run a micropub alongside the record the shop.
“We’ve had loads and loads of interest, but we haven’t had a firm offer yet,” he said.
“We’ve had interest from a few other record shops and queries from people who have wanted to turn half of it into a micropub and leave the rest as a vinyl store.
“A lot of shops around Kent are vinyl cafes and there is room to do that in here.”
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