I distinctly remember the first time I walked into Campus Collectibles. I had just bought my first record player. A Sylvania SRCD-817, complete with cd player and AM/FM radio. A $40 steal I had picked up off a scaly commission deal. It was time for some records. I asked around town and somehow or another was pointed to Campus Collectibles. Driving away, I asked if they had the good stuff. My friend told me, “you’ll see” with a peculiar grin on his face.

When I arrived at the store, located at 102 E. Kings Hwy. across from George’s Grill and the Centenary Gold Dome, I walked in expecting a letdown. A feeling that would quickly start its descent when I met John Matthews, a man with an earnest personality, who, when informed that my business there was records, grinned, and immediately asked if I’d ever seen his collection.

After shaking my head, I followed him to the back of the relic-filled store, only to discover a vast assemblage of vinyls. Shellacs and wax. 45’s, old 78’s, and 33’s. He had everything from Abba to Zappa. Classical, ragtime, blues, jazz, country, rock etc… As if the stockpile wasn’t overwhelming enough on its own, he notified me that I only had 23 minutes to look at it; they closed at 5, and it was 4:37 p.m.

When I went in to ask questions about the place, I wanted to know just how I had been out of the loop of this mind-numbing collection for so long.

Before it was Campus Collectibles, Dr. Sanders ran a doctor’s office which featured a tree growing right smack dab in the middle of the reception area straight through the ceiling. Probably for the children to have something to scratch, while their tired mothers carried out the daily chores. Back in those days, only the second floor existed. The building itself rested on a hill.

In the 60’s, they removed the tree and dug out the area that would become the first floor occupied by Lewis Drugs, around the turn of the decade. Following Lewis Drugs, it served as The Patrician. Afterwards, an antique store. It laid vacant for a few years until 1995 when Matthews took it over and created Campus Collectibles.

Matthews, who is also a classical conductor and opera singer, started collecting in his childhood, well before he started pushing records and antiques. In fact he didn’t even get into the record business until 2001 when his brother passed away, leaving him his record collection. Not long after that in 2002, a guy came in with 40,000 records. Matthews bought them all, and made his money back in less than a month. Following that he bought someone out in Houston, Texas who had 100,000 additional records. Since then customers have just kept coming, itching to buy, sale, or trade. The current, alphabetized record selection stands at a total of 130,000 records.

Proudly, Matthews boasts it as the most extensive record collection in hundreds of miles.

He also shared with me his plethora of rare records, including, among other treasures, a signed first issue of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Street Fighters album, with artwork featuring the band standing and engulfed in flames. There is an urban legend about it, stating that the fire is only touching the members of the band that perished in that fateful plane crash. Whether that is true or not, the surviving members of the band decided to change the album cover.

Mr. Matthews plans to retire soon, and is hoping to sell Campus Collectibles. “This kind of business runs on discretionary income,” said Matthews, adding that it has been hit hard by the economy. “We’ve suffered.”

Often antique stores don’t last long in this reeling economy, let alone a good economy. Campus Collectibles has survived because of their record collection. They give some of the props to the powerful comeback of the vinyl industry. They sold more record players last year than the ten previous years that preceded it.

“The records have saved us,” Matthews said.

They still have all of the odd and retro knick knacks you’d expect to find in a place like this. Plus, the antique store has handy dandy Richard King, who does in-store custom framing and seems to be a jack of all trades.

“As far as antiques, they are built to last,” said Matthews. “They are always made well. They used real wood not that pressed crap.” Which is true, and it makes them good for repurposing projects.

If you are there on record business like so many, you will find that he also sells record player needles, and if he doesn’t have yours, he can get it. Matthews is currently going through his 20,000 78’s, and disposing of nearly all of them made past 1935.

Shop local at Campus Collectibles. 102 E. Kings Hwy.  Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Their phone number is (318) 868-0001. Happy Hunting!

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