Vinyl Vanguard

Vinyl Vanguard trades from unit 19 at CRATE on St James Street, Walthamstow, run by Mike Gerber and Simon Lynn. Gerber began selling records informally at a local summer market before taking a pop-up unit on Hoe Street in 2016, then a stall in Wood Street Indoor Market as trade grew. The shop moved to its current St James Street site in October 2019, joining CRATE's mix of food traders and small workshops. Stock runs across genres in new and secondhand vinyl, with a turntable set up for customers to sample records before buying. The shop has stayed at this single Walthamstow address since 2019, independent of any wider record store group or online-only operation.