Browsing records with a beer

Though the sale was promoted from noon to 4 p.m., and the rain was pouring, buyers were lined up outside beforehand, knowing that getting there early might mean they get their hands on something special. 

As buyers peruse the boxes, sectioned off by rock, soul, R&B, goth, Mexican, Disney and more, they’re often holding their own glasses from the taproom, but there is no concern of a mess on Sullivan’s part. 

“I get that some vendors might care, but there’s a strong honor system here and I just want people to have a good time, listen to our music and drink good beer,” Sullivan said. 

He also knows that the buyers who show up to his sales are likely just as caring of vinyls as he is. 

While Sullivan’s business model may be considered lax, his obsession for collecting and sharing vinyls is anything but casual. 

There’s no inventory kept — records move in and out of his possession quickly, and the sheer volume would make it a daunting task, he said — but the selection of vinyls is not random. Sullivan’s massive collection of records are kept in pristine condition and he doesn’t buy, or sell, just anything. 

“I’ll admit I’m sort of a record snob, and I know what people want,” Sullivan said. “There are things that just don’t move, no matter how good of an album it might have been, but I have to move stuff. I literally can’t keep lugging it around.” 

 Though Sullivan can make a profit on his pop-up sales despite the fact that his records are usually much cheaper than they would be at another store, his joy in running his pop-up business is knowing he’s sharing music with others. 

“My strategy is to move them, to get them out and to get them in people’s hands,” Sullivan said. “What I think of when I get home after a sale, is that 40 people last night are playing my records I sold and enjoying them with wine or dancing around.” 

The pop-ups were also born out of sheer necessity to parse down his own amassing collection. 

After Sullivan bought his first record, “Meet the Monkees,” when he was 7 years old, he was instantly hooked. 

“It’s in my chemical,” Sullivan said. “It’s a curse somewhat, it’s in me that I want to collect, but I can’t collect everything.” 

At one point, Sullivan’s collection was so vast that his wife, Diana Sullivan, asked what they could possibly do with so many records. A friend proposed over three years ago, the idea of a pop-up, a term Dan Sullivan wasn’t familiar with, and since then their personal collection has maintained at a reasonable level. 

“We were aghast, we had a person at every box pulling all the great stuff out, and the unique stuff too,” Dan Sullivan said. “We realized we’re onto something.” 

Dan and Diana Sullivan and their hired helper Austin, who is described by Dan as the “young buck who can do more than I can with my 62-year-old back,” host record sales about 36 times a year. 

They pick out locations and test out what breweries are best for the pop-up, and if the scene is as good as it got at Blue Oak Brewery Co. on Sunday, they’ll come back again. 

The crew and their U-Haul full of records show up for pop-up sales in San Carlos, and all between San Jose and Sacramento. 

Check out @dantherecordman on Instagram or Facebook to find out when the next pop-up in town may be.