The city of Ann Arbor has been home to Encore Records for over 50 years, remaining the hub for those wanting to find everything music, from hidden vinyl records to the latest chart-topping album. With a staff that offers a wealth of musical knowledge and friendliness, a like-minded community talking about their favorite bands and a location highlighted by its small-town charm, Encore is one of the city’s premier shops in the current era of vinyl revival.
At the helm of Encore are co-owners Jim Dwyer and Bill McClelland, who took over the store after former owner Peter Dale retired in 2011. Dwyer, who began working at Encore in 1996, said he and McClelland became owners out of necessity to keep the store from permanently closing.
“(Peter) announced he would retire when the lease expired, and if he didn’t find a buyer, he would close the store out,” Dwyer said. “That freaked us out. It’s the center of existence for people who love music and collect records. We knew the store couldn’t go away.”
The record store has an inventory of several thousand records, noting that each employee has specialty knowledge of multiple genres, from J-pop to classic rock. The store sells records but also purchases items, with a catalog of tapes, CDs and DVDs, sheet music, books and memorabilia.
Dwyer, a retired high school teacher in Ann Arbor public schools for 15 years teaching British Literature, said he began working at Encore to earn extra income during the summer, noting that McClelland joined the Encore staff shortly after him. After becoming the co-owner in 2011, he said that their goal was to “Keep the business going.”
However, their next hurdle came with the lease in 2019, eight years into their ownership, as its location of 417 E Liberty St., was set to close its doors after the building they were leasing was sold to new ownership.
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“Our hand was forced. We liked the previous location,” Dwyer said. “Being close to the Michigan Theater was good, but the building there changed ownership, and we did not want to have anything to do with the new owners of the building.”
While faced with a difficult situation, Dwyer and McClelland met Vicki Honeyman, the former owner of Heavenly Metal, the hair salon that had been a Kerrytown fixture since 2003, which was now permanently closing. Her departure created the opportunity for Encore’s new space.
“Vicky was just closing out her business in this location and she is a friend through WCBN-FM,” said Dwyer. “She heard that Encore was looking for a new place and introduced us to the building landlord.”
Dwyer said that after owning the location for nearly a decade, their new lease at 208 North Fourth, in the heart of Kerrytown, while smaller than their previous location, gave the business new life.
“It was hard because this is about half the size of our previous store, so we had to make some hard decisions about shrinking sections,” said Dwyer. “But I think the old store almost had too much stuff. It was intimidating and overwhelming for a lot of people to come in. Having a smaller store allows us to curate more.”
While the business initially thrived with their change of scenery, Dwyer recounted the challenges that soon followed with the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
“That was a shocker. We were all set, thinking 2020 was going to be the best year ever.” said Dwyer. “We squeaked through for a couple of reasons. One, the landlord was very gracious and gave everybody a break on the rent, thanks to the late great Peter Bilakos For that kindness. We did a GoFundMe fundraiser to pay off outstanding bills. We survived for half a year on online sales and slowly opened up just a few hours at a time. It was scary, but we knew we had good community support and our store is important to people. If we were going to make it through, it was because people liked our store.”
Now, in 2025, Dwyer says the company is once again established and comfortable with plans to look towards potentially hosting events, something Encore did in their previous location.
“We have friends who are in the Ann Arbor music scene. There are not that many places to play for bands,” Dwyer said. “We have friends who are involved in either rock, pop or techno music. We would probably set something up through those guys. We talked about this idea with Lisa from TeaHaus, collaborating with her and a potential block party where we get the bands together to play. There is no specific plan yet, but we hope to do something like that in the future, so stay tuned.”
Regarding the business, Dwyer said Encore Records is a haven for music. He wants customers to enjoy themselves and find the tune they enjoy the most.
Music is like religion to us. It keeps us going in hard times,” Dwyer said. “It’s what people find joy in music, whether it’s techno dance music or Beethoven sonatas. Here, we are all about music, happiness and joy. As it says on our door, all styles are served here.
You can find more information on Encore Records by contacting 734-662-6776 or visiting their website.
Antonio Cooper is a freelance journalist from Detroit, Michigan. His coverage of music festivals and interviews with local celebrities appeared in The E-Current Magazine, The Detroit Metro Times, XXL Magazine, RichMagDigital, The Ann Arbor Observer, and Pop Magazine.
