Collectors and audiophiles making the drive to Ellsworth, Maine will find Vinyl Vogue at 142 Main St Suite A, a music shop built around three specialties: new and used vinyl records, guitars and amplifiers, and rare music memorabilia. The store markets itself directly to serious collectors and working musicians rather than casual browsers, with inventory that turns over weekly as new stock comes in and gets logged for sale.
Condition and presentation are central to how the shop operates. According to its own site, Vinyl Vogue pairs detailed condition descriptions with high-resolution photography for every piece it lists, and it ships using collector-grade packing designed to protect records and memorabilia in transit. That level of care matters more here than at a typical secondhand record bin, since part of the shop’s stock consists of genuinely rare, hard-to-replace pieces rather than everyday used LPs.
The most distinctive item in the shop’s history is a Beatles memorabilia collection it acquired in 2024. Per the store’s own account, the pieces came from a former Capitol Records distribution warehouse employee in Pennsylvania who had kept vintage promotional material dating from 1969 to 1972, including original Apple Records store displays, Abbey Road promotional posters, White Album inserts, and retail advertising pieces. The shop notes that many of these items were never publicly distributed, which is what makes them stand out from the reissued posters and reproduction memorabilia found at most vintage shops. It is the kind of find that only turns up once in a great while in a small-town record store, and it has become a talking point for regulars and visiting collectors alike.
Beyond the rare finds, Vinyl Vogue functions as a working part of Ellsworth’s small music scene. The shop hosts live events and runs a blog, written under the byline Lou Waxman, covering new inventory discoveries and notes from the collecting world. That combination of retail and community programming keeps the shop connected to local musicians as well as the broader collector network that drives demand for rare vinyl and memorabilia.
Ellsworth itself sits along Route 1 on the way to Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park, making Vinyl Vogue a natural stop for visitors heading toward the coast as much as it is a destination for local collectors. The shop keeps a fuller schedule than many small-town record stores: Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the later Friday and Saturday hours giving evening shoppers a chance to browse after dinner in town.
Anyone planning a visit around a specific want list can call ahead at (207) 479-4951 to ask about current stock, since weekly turnover means the bins look different from one visit to the next.
Vinyl Vogue is a collector-focused record and guitar shop in Ellsworth, Maine, known for its rotating vinyl inventory, vintage instruments, and a notable trove of rare 1969-1972 Beatles promotional memorabilia.
