Inside Arnot Mall in Horseheads, New York, Squatch In The Pit has spent the years since its July 2021 opening building a case for itself as, in the shop’s own words, Chemung County’s largest independently owned record store. The name pairs a wink at Bigfoot folklore with mosh-pit energy, and the inventory backs up that attitude: vinyl records, CDs, and cassettes sit alongside band merchandise and pop-culture t-shirts pulled from music, movies, and television. The collection leans heavily toward rock, metal, punk, and hip hop, with a particular focus on releases from the 2000s through today, making it less a nostalgia shop for oldies collectors and more a destination for listeners whose formative albums came out well after vinyl’s first heyday had already faded and returned.
The mall location at 3300 Chambers Road puts Squatch In The Pit inside a familiar Southern Tier shopping destination, giving it steady foot traffic from Horseheads and nearby Elmira shoppers who might not otherwise seek out a standalone record store. That built-in visibility has helped the shop grow quickly in a few short years into the county’s leading independent option for physical music, a notable claim in an era when big-box retailers have largely abandoned dedicated music sections. Beyond simply selling new and used stock, the store runs an active online storefront alongside its physical presence, meaning customers not local to Chemung County can still order from its catalog.
What separates Squatch In The Pit from a straightforward retail shop is its investment in the physical media itself. The store offers in-house ultrasonic vinyl cleaning along with professional disc repair, services aimed at collectors who want to actually extend the life of records and discs they already own rather than simply replace them. That kind of technical service is uncommon even among dedicated record stores, and it signals a staff invested in vinyl as a format worth preserving rather than just a product to move off the shelf. The shop also hosts listening parties and live music events, turning the space into a gathering point for local music fans rather than a pure transaction spot, and it runs a rewards program that keeps regular customers coming back.
The shop describes itself as independent as can be since 2021, a tagline that captures both its youth relative to legacy record stores and its pride in staying outside any larger chain structure. For a county whose independent record store options are limited, that independence, paired with rapid growth into the area’s largest option in just a few years, is worth noting on its own. Reach the store at (607) 438-2883 for current stock questions or event details.
Squatch In The Pit is Chemung County’s largest independently owned record store, pairing new and used vinyl, CDs, and cassettes inside Arnot Mall with in-house vinyl cleaning, disc repair, and a full calendar of listening parties and live events.
