Tell us a bit about yourself and your business.
My name is Luke Tandy and I own and operate Skeleton Dust Records in downtown Dayton. We offer a curated and eclectic selection of music on vinyl, CD, and cassette format.
What made you decide to open your own small business and how long have you been in operation?
I had been thinking about opening my own record store since being in college in the early 2000s. I grew up in Indiana going to awesome stores like Luna Music, Village Green Records, and Evolving Records, which all expanded my musical interests in different ways. Fast forward to graduating from college and moving to Dayton in 2007, I began working a variety of jobs, however, none were truly inspiring and fulfilling for me personally. I reached a point a few years back where I felt that I needed to at least try to open my own record store, or else I would regret not doing it. So, I decided to take the plunge and opened the store in October 2017. All of our customers have been incredibly supportive since the beginning and we are truly grateful for everyone that has believed in our vision, even if it’s a little different. We look forward to what the future brings!
What do you enjoy about working in downtown Dayton?
Working in downtown Dayton is great! It’s very central to other great local businesses, there’s always lots of cool community events happening, and it’s incredibly safe.
Tell us something about your business that may surprise people to learn.
Skeleton Dust began as a record label in 2006, so in a way it has existed long before 2017. I have a personal interest in noise and experimental music and perform and record this kind of music with my own projects as well, touring throughout the US, Europe, and Japan over the years. Although the store carries and supports a wide variety of music, there is a strong focus on noise and experimental music which is often released on cassette tapes. So, when people walk into our store for the first time, they’re often surprised to see the hundreds of cassette tapes that we offer for sale.
How is your business coping with the pandemic and how can people support you now?
Luckily, we only had to make minor adjustments to our business model to cope with operating during the pandemic. We had already been doing a lot of mail order business, so that continued happening and even increased some when the store shut down in March. Our store is still closed to the public for the time being, but we offer world-wide mail order service, local pickups, and will soon begin offering private appointments for people that want to come to the store to browse through records. Keep an eye out on our social media for updates and to see what cool stuff we’re getting in!
Skeleton Dust Records
133 E. Third St.
www.skeletondustrecords.com
937-221-8528
facebook.com/SkeletonDustRecords
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