Surveyed
Neil Brown started selling vinyl from a stall in Camden Market before opening Sister Ray on Berwick Street in 1989, naming it after a Velvet Underground track. The shop later merged with neighbouring Selectadisc when its owner Brian Selby retired in 2003, and Phil Barton, who also runs Rounder Records in Brighton, has owned the business since. Berwick Street was once known as Soho's Golden Mile for its cluster of record shops, most of which, including Selectadisc, Vinyl Junkies and Black Market, have since closed. Sister Ray is now the largest independent record store left in the West End, stocking new releases and secondhand vinyl across two floors, and Barton has become a public advocate for Record Store Day.