By Victoria Wilson
The first thing that hits your nose walking into Flip Side Record Parlor is the savory, inviting scent of burning incense; the first thing you’ll hear is the piped music blasting, the same tunes when Flip Side first opened its doors.
Established among many local businesses on S.W. Military Drive, Flip Side Record Parlor is the only withstanding record store on the South Side since it opened in 1972. The shop sells vinyl records, show tickets, band merchandise, incense and novelty gifts and attracts customers from different generations.
Flip Side has loyal customers that say they have frequented the shop since the beginning.
The parlor is open every day except Sunday and has extended hours throughout the week to accommodate customers.
The first owner of Flip Side was Douglass Lease, and his former wife. During the late 1970s and early 1980s the parlor had two locations, one operated by Doug’s wife and a South Side location operated by Doug located at 1445 S.W. Military.
As time passed, renovations were necessary, so Lease uprooted to a new home up the road.
Current owner, Clarisa Pena, started at Flip Side as a weekend job when she was nineteen years old. Her sister-in-law worked in the shop part-time and personally knew Douglas, before he passed away in 2011.
Pena has been with the store for twenty-three years and doesn’t plan on leaving.
Landlords of the original location decided it was time for a complete renovation of the building and needed Flip Side to pack up shop and wait it out before moving back into the space.
Pena said the landlords welcomed them back after renovations, but insisted they removed their merchandise. It was too much for Pena. To set things straight, it was simply time for the shop to move on. With the massive amount of inventory, it made the most sense to find new space to call home.
“Look at all this stuff,” Pena said, gesturing to her inventory. “Why the hell would we just go back? The rent wasn’t going to be any different so it was ok; we got our own spot.”’
Flip Side seems to have been the place to go for music that wasn’t necessarily mainstream.
Mike Chavez, a South Side resident, has added to his music collection for decades.
“I went because they had a lot of punk records along with ‘80s metal and thrash that were hard to find at that time at any of the other stores back then,” Chavez said.
His first trip into Flip Side was back in 1978; he says the shop is just as popular as before because it’s been around longest.
“They outlasted all the other stores that were around. Sound Warehouse was near the original South Side location and there was Record Hole in the South Side mall,” Chavez continued.
Being able to give that nostalgic record parlor feel with quality customer service is makes Flip Side stand the test of time.
“What makes us different is we’ve been here since 1972, and our customer service is very open and our energy is always a good energy,” Pena said. “I believe customer service is very important. The counter-culture really sets us apart; we’re just an old head shop from the 70s that stayed true to what it’s always been about.”
“Change is good but some people don’t like that, they like to come here because they feel like they’re back in the seventies and eighties. They feel nostalgic. Even just this weekend, we had a benefit and a lot of old friends showed up and they just love the way it smells in here, it reminds them of being back in the day,” Pena continued.
Despite location changes, Chavez still stops by Flip Side to see what’s new in store and to drop off flyers anytime his band has a show coming up.
Flip Side promotes the local music scene and welcomes any type of musician to pay a visit.
Pena encourages any and everyone to bring in flyers of their band and enjoys helping to get the word out for local artists. She wants people to know that bands can bring her their tickets to sell at the shop for upcoming shows.
Pena doesn’t charge local bands to sell their tickets, but charges larger concerts a minimal service fee.
“I tell people you can put us on your flyers and they can tell people that we sell their tickets here. I truly don’t discriminate,” Pena said. “It can be any band, especially like a local band and they’re just starting.”
For one resident, it isn’t about what’s in the shop, it’s about her memories and experiences.
Flip Side regular April Martinez visits frequently to see the new products and to stock up on her incense.
On this particular visit, Martinez was on a mission to find a birthday gift for a best friend.
Leaving the shop with a lighter, poster, patch and T-shirt, Martinez said Flip Side is her first stop for gifts because she’s guaranteed to find things other shops of the same breed may not have.
Martinez said her father used to take her with him every Friday after work to help pick out new music.
“My mom didn’t really like me here, but he brought me to help him pick out new music for us to listen to,” Martinez said. “Most of the time I didn’t know what I had really picked out until we made it home because I just made my choice by whatever cover I liked.”
