Round Again Records has occupied the same storefront at 278 Wickenden Street in Providence, Rhode Island since 1979, making it one of the longest continuously operating record shops in the state and a fixture on a street better known today for antique dealers, vintage boutiques, and independent cafes than for record shops that predate most of them. Wickenden Street runs through the Fox Point neighborhood near the edge of the East Side, and Round Again has watched the strip evolve around it for well over four decades while sticking to the same basic formula: deep stacks of used vinyl and CDs, a knowledgeable staff, and a refusal to chase trends.
The shop’s specialty runs toward jazz, rock, folk, and country, genres that reward patient crate-digging over flashy new releases, and the inventory reflects that philosophy. Records are graded and sorted with an emphasis on physical condition, which matters to collectors hunting for a clean pressing rather than just any copy of a title. Beyond records and compact discs, Round Again also carries vintage stereo equipment, including receivers, speakers, and turntables, so a customer can walk out with both the record and a period-correct way to play it. That combination of software and hardware under one roof is increasingly rare among independent record shops, most of which have shed the equipment side of the business as it became harder to source and repair.
The shop is known locally for an owner who is quiet, polite, and deeply knowledgeable about the records passing through the store, the kind of low-key expertise that regulars come to rely on when they are looking for a specific pressing or want a second opinion on a record’s value before selling a collection. That reputation has helped Round Again become a go-to stop for Providence-area collectors looking to both buy and sell, whether they are filling gaps in a jazz collection or clearing out a relative’s basement full of country and folk LPs.
Round Again Records is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the shop closed on Sundays. The Wickenden Street location puts it within easy walking distance of the antique shops, secondhand furniture stores, and vintage clothing dealers that have made this stretch of the neighborhood a natural destination for anyone interested in old and well-made things, meaning a stop here pairs easily with an afternoon spent browsing the rest of the street. Parking is mostly on-street, typical of this older, walkable section of Providence, and the shop’s narrow storefront belies just how much stock is packed into the bins inside.
For anyone building a record collection in Rhode Island, or simply looking to hear a jazz or folk record the way it was meant to sound on a properly maintained vintage turntable, Round Again Records offers both the source material and the equipment to play it, backed by more than forty-five years of staying in one place and doing one thing well. Round Again Records is a Providence institution on Wickenden Street that has sold used vinyl, CDs, and vintage stereo equipment from the same storefront since 1979, making it one of Rhode Island’s longest-running independent record shops.
