
February 3, 2025
WAUPACA – Crate diggers take heed: Back to the Vinyl has set up shop in a new location more than seven times larger than its old one.
Marty Milner, who co-owns Back to the Vinyl with his wife, Jenn, said the new spot at 201 N. Main St. in Waupaca, is just a block down from the tiny original one.
The well-lit and roomy space, Milner said, can better display the vinyl, CDs, cassettes and equipment that was previously jam-packed into a mere 200 square feet.
He said it will also allow him and Jenn to broaden their equipment offerings.
“We were bursting at the seams,” he said.
Initially, Milner said they thought they could expand the shop in its previous space, however, when the building’s owner became ill and put the building up for sale, they needed another option.
That other option, he said, came from fellow downtown business owners – another married couple.
Milner said that couple had planned to open a distillery and wanted to combine their existing businesses, including Northern Kitchen at 201 N. Main St., into fewer locations – which opened up the space for them.
He said he and Jenn were ecstatic.
“This corner location is beautiful inside – the floors and ceiling – and the HVAC, bathroom and other (aspects) were updated,” he said. “They knew we were doing a cool thing and wanted to see us grow, and we said, ‘Well, if you guys can help us out, we’ll make downtown that much cooler.’”
Milner said they took on the lease and shuttled not only all the merchandise from the former location but also a houseful of vinyl from their home into the new space on Jan. 1, thanks to friends, family and customers who helped make it happen.
“Everybody who helped us move over and fill the new space asked, ‘How did you get all this into 200 square feet?’ – once we were able to spread it out and see how much we had,” he laughed.
Milner said they managed because they had to, intentionally starting the business in the tiny space as they dipped their toes into the entrepreneurial pool.

He said they didn’t want a lot of overhead to start and were pleasantly surprised with how receptive the community was to a vinyl store, so named in reference to one of his favorite movies, “Back to the Future.”
“When we opened the door, everybody said, ‘Thank God you’re here. We don’t have anything like this and we needed it,’” he said. “Before long, the surrounding areas of Manawa and Wausau figured out we were there and definitely supported us.”
Milner said music had always been a passion of his – listening to records, cassette tapes and eight-track tapes with his dad.
After his parents’ divorce, Milner said he visited his dad in California each summer and listened to a lot of the latest music so he could impress his dad with his knowledge.
Over time, he said it inspired a love of music.
A renewed passion
When he and Jenn moved to Waupaca in 2015, Milner said they would often walk their dog, Walter, up and down Main Street.
“Back then, Main Street was really dead, and we’d walk by a building and (I’d point out) how it could be a cool record store,” he said.
Milner said his interest in all things music was renewed when a cousin’s friend, visiting from Germany, got him back into buying vinyl as the two talked about their shared love of music.
He said the friend, Rene, would travel from Germany with two suitcases of clothes to wear for visits but leave the clothes behind in favor of filling his suitcases with vinyl, CDs and cassettes to take back home with him at the end of his visit.
“That’s when I really started collecting vinyl, remembering the love of owning a physical copy of music,” he said. “If you stop an (online music subscription) service, it doesn’t exist. But with vinyl, it’s yours and yours forever.”
Milner said the idea of opening a record store may have started as a bit of a joke, but transitioned into a dream come true after Jenn saw someone working on the downtown building they had walked by so many times.
When she found out it offered reasonable rent, Milner said she brought the idea of opening a vinyl store up to him.
“It was really a matter of, ‘If not now, when?’” he said.
Milner said the original plan was for him to continue to work as a diesel mechanic Mondays through Thursdays and then run the storefront on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The duo opened the shop over Labor Day weekend in 2023 to a warm welcome.
But not long after, Milner said his full-time employer combined two locations and he was let go from his job.
“In the back of my mind, I thought, ‘If this isn’t the universe at work… ,’” he said. “I felt like fate was telling me, ‘You got this, so go.’”
Milner said he then dove headfirst into Back to the Vinyl, and the vinyl community responded.
A little bit of everything
Milner said the shop’s clientele ranges from sixth graders to people in their 90s and lots of families with a shared love of music, Milner said.
One man from Manawa, he said, comes in regularly with his daughter who’s been going through his record collection and paring it back.
“If he gets an ‘ick’ face from her about a particular album, he brings it to me to sell,” she said. “It’s been fun to see that and learn how they listen to records a lot, sharing that love.”

Likewise, Milner said the music genres represented in the store include “a little bit of everything,” with him working to bring in newer and harder-to-find music.
“You can get Taylor Swift anywhere,” he said. “We try to bring in the stuff you can’t go to Target to find – be it rock, pop, metal or whatever. If customers mention a specific musician, I can bring them in, buying an extra album or two to see what happens. People regularly ask, ‘How do you know what to order?’ and I don’t. I go by what the distributors say – but (more importantly) by what our customers want.”
Milner said the new, larger space gives customers a lot more wiggle room to check out the vinyl available, as well as provides room to create an area to display and offer more equipment.
He said he now has more room for services, such as ultrasonic record cleaning and can refer customers to some local contacts if people need servicing for their turntables, etc.
Milner said he also envisions hosting local bands performing acoustic sets on Fridays and Saturdays in the future – broadening the listening parties he started in the former location.
“When we’d have those over the last year, we had one little track in the center of the store and people were crammed in there,” Jenn said. “Fortunately, when we had our biggest group, we put a speaker pointed outside and they were able to hear out there.”
Milner said he plans to host more listening parties, including handing out the CD box sets, T-shirts, posters and other promotional items he often has on hand.
He said he is also looking forward to working with some local artists with 3D-printing capabilities to make “now playing” stands and other art touches within the shop.
“Waupaca seems to be a very art-driven community – musically and artistically – and I’d love to display artwork in the store to help some of them get noticed,” he said.
As for getting noticed: the couple said they are excited the new storefront – located at an intersection – has provided some great exposure, complementing the word of mouth that has largely fueled the store’s success to date.
“We’ve created an environment, a vibe and feeling when you walk in, and Marty really makes people feel welcome,” Jenn said. “It’s about creating an environment that people want to recommend to their friends and family.”
Milner said social media has also played an important part in creating awareness – which includes reels of the songs of the day, accompanied by the latest pun.
Back to the Vinyl, he said, now has more than 2,000 followers on Facebook, a tool they found quite successful for bringing people in.
“Whenever we get new stock, we post it and people come in,” he said.
Milner said they’ve also worked on ensuring the store comes up in “record store near me” searches on Google.
The couple has also connected with fellow downtown business owners – a move Milner said has been a good one.

This, he said, includes teaming up with H. H. Hinder Brewing Company to spin records for occasional Wednesday vinyl nights or trivia nights and working with Main Street Popcorn to hand out caramel popcorn at a discount to guests at one of his listening parties.
As a new entrepreneur and someone who works in the store seven days a week, Milner said he’s also learning how to set boundaries between work and home.
“I used to read and respond to contacts regardless of the time of day, but I’ve learned balance with that,” he said. “It is important, because your name and customer service are your brand.”
Proudly independent
As an independent record store, Milner said participating in Record Store Day events – national celebrations focused on supporting independent record stores – is a must, with the next date coming April 12.
Though they missed participating in 2023, he said they were able to participate in spring 2024.
As part of the observance, Milner said record labels offer exclusive items for independents – be it music never before available on vinyl, vinyl reissues with extra songs, special edition vinyl and more.
“These are items you can’t find unless you go to an independent store, and the day is about making sure that love of music doesn’t die,” he said. “It’s been happening since 2008 and gets bigger and better every year.”
For Back to the Vinyl’s first observance of Record Store Day, Milner said he didn’t advertise beyond being listed on recordstoreday.com and a mention of it the day before the observance on social media.
“That worked well, as everything went smoothly and everyone was happy,” he said. “We had a huge rush when we opened for an hour or two and then were steady for the rest of the afternoon. I was very impressed.”
Milner said he relived the experience on Black Friday 2024, and though it wasn’t as intensive as the spring observance, the shop was still bustling – which continues today.
“Our high time is actually now because everybody is indoors and enjoying music,” he said. “Tourism does bring a surge of people, but only if they can’t be out on the lakes or outdoors because it’s raining.”
Rain or shine, Milner said he, Jenn and store dog, Walter, enjoy welcoming customers and talking music.
“I love what I do…,” he said. “It’s not hard to go to work. I enjoy meeting cool people and am excited to continue to listen to the community and listen to music with the community.”
Back to the Vinyl is open seven days a week, with specific hours available at backtothevinylwaupaca.com or on the shop’s Facebook page.