Best of Cleveland 2014: Tiny Record Store

Tiny record store

Steven Peffer wanted to start a record store unlike any he'd seen in Cleveland before. A few years ago, as CDs' popularity declined, he saw the niche. "No CDs, just records," he says. "A small shop that was carefully curated, not mountains of stuff to go through." Then he saw the storefront tiny enough to make it work. He opened the 400-square-foot Hausfrau Record Shop in 2012, right next to the Capitol Theater, and stocked it with underground rock, reggae, jazz and experimental electronic music. It looks too small to be real, but Peffer has managed to fit 30 rows of LPs into his space. A browse of the R rack yielded several Roxy Music albums at $6.99 to $13.99. Another day, the B selection turned up David Bowie's 1978 double live LP Stage for $4.99. "There's an element of quality to everything on shelf," he says. "It's collectible and it's priced for people who live in Cleveland." 1388 W. 65th St., Cleveland, 216-394-5171