‘Best job I’ve had, bar none’: Wheaton record store marks a decade of vinyl revival

As an impressionable boy, Mike Paeth surveyed his parents’ record albums displayed on either side of the all-in-one stereo system.

His mother’s albums were on the left: Elton John, Billy Joel, Sly and the Family Stone, “every single Chicago record,” Paeth said.

On the right, his father’s collection: Merle Haggard, Tom T. Hall, Johnny Cash — considered outlaw country music men.

When Paeth reached the sixth grade, he and his friends swapped influences: Journey, Kansas, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Rush.

“Literally, everything changed with Rush,” he said.

Yep, Paeth had realized free will as an audiophile. His tastes, and those of his customers, continue to evolve at his store, Mile Long Records, 350 W. Front St., Wheaton.

Though not a straight line — Paeth began in graphic design, worked in prepress for himself and other companies, and gave it a go with a recording studio and record label for bands that never broke, like some he was in — he found success with Mile Long Records, which marks 10 years in October.

“It’s been an amazing 10 years, actually,” said Paeth, who with his wife, Karen, and now-adult daughters, Abigail and Alyssa, moved to Wheaton from Carol Stream about 15 years ago. Both daughters worked at the store growing up.

“I will say, being 58, I’ve made more friends in the past 10 years than I have in the past 48,” Paeth said. “That’s been amazing. A lot of my customers I consider friends. I go to concerts with them, stuff like that. That’s who I hang out with. I got to expose my daughters to a lot of different music, and I still keep exposing them to a lot of different music.”

Interestingly, Paeth has tinnitus. An Aerosmith concert got him right in the ear. Happily, though, the condition contributed at least in part to his initial collection of 25,000 records used to stock the store in 2014.

“I did like a lot of people, I got rid of my vinyl and bought CDs. When I was in college I had 2,000-3,000 CDs, probably, but I wasn’t really enjoying music like I was before and I couldn’t figure out why,” Paeth said.

He happened upon a garage sale offering a turntable and some albums, bought them, and tuned in to the rich sound.

“I was just like, oh my God, this is what I’ve been missing,” he said. Between the ritual of cleaning the record, putting it on the spindle and dropping the needle, and no more of the tinnitus-like “listening fatigue” he’d felt hearing CDs, he was back on vinyl.

No garage sale was safe. The capper came when he purchased a Ryder truck’s worth of albums from a homeowner who was moving.

“My wife is like, ‘Oh, boy.’ That’s kind of what started it. I was still working my other job at the time, but I knew I was just waiting for the opportunity,” Paeth said.

He scouted locations and was advised to find a store near restaurants, a train station and a college.

Wheaton stood out. Paeth moved into a vacant storefront where Mile Long Records has been ever since.

On Saturdays, one can find people from any number of towns hanging out near the counter Paeth sits behind, listening to music and talking about concerts, their favorite bands and collectible albums. Mile Long, with its water bowl outside, also is dog-friendly.

“I actually call it dog-encouraged,” said Paeth, who has doggy treats behind the counter.

Assisted by shift manager Ben Chesney, Paeth has a regular clientele of some 375 people who come in at least once a month, and about 100 die-hard followers who visit weekly.

As public interest increasingly favored vinyl, Paeth has tweaked his collection to emphasize new releases over used albums, though there is a healthy selection of those in a two-sided island of handmade racks.

Along one wall are racks of new albums in perfect alphabetical order by artist; along the another wall are others alphabetized within genres such as metal, punk, jazz, and soundtracks. Paeth also sells components, record cleaners and other accessories.

Taylor Swift, Deftones and Iron Maiden are big sellers, and his multigenerational customers ensure Paeth’s inventory, and interest, is on the pulse of listening trends.

“I just can’t be an old man having Beatles and Rolling Stones records,” he said. “As much as I love them, I’ve got to be in touch with artists like Noah Kahan, Olivia Rodrigo, Laufey, Maisie Peters.”

He has a business person’s headaches. Margins are tight and rents tough, though he’s got a sympathetic landlord. He’d like to host live music but doesn’t have the room.

But like his shift to vinyl from CDs, Paeth isn't going back.

“Would I be happier in one of my other jobs? Not even close. Best job I’ve had, bar none,” he said.

• Dave Oberhelman is a customer of Mile Long Records, whose arrival in downtown Wheaton quenched a long thirst since the demise of independents such as Johnny B. Goode, Rave On Records and Wheaton Radio.