Redwood City’s Record Man considers next moves after a more than 30-year career

In the early morning of May 5, Saxon was awakened by a call informing the music man of what officials later described as a “suspicious” fire scorching his record shop. Saxon said he benefited from being so close to the fire department, having been told the entire shop would have fallen if allowed to burn an additional 15 minutes.

Damage largely occurred to the exterior of the building, leaving burn marks along the right side of the structure and busting the second floor windows. Smoke damage claimed roughly 85,000 different records, including his entire international section, gospel, rat pack and World War II radio transcripts.

The loss has been devastating and one from which he’ll likely never recover, Saxon said. They were collected over decades and restoring the damaged records would be costly and time consuming.

As for the person who set the building ablaze, Saxon expressed empathy. Pressing charges would be a decision for the district attorney, he said, noting apprehension in adding additional burdens to someone already struggling.

Rather than wallow, Saxon said he and his family have focused on the strong community support they’ve received and on their recovery. Just a day after the fire, the store reopened to the public while the upstairs remains locked.

“We’re not really feeling down and depressed. We look at it as a new hurdle we need to overcome and that’s what we intend to do,” Saxon said.

The shop has already started to accept used records while purchasing new items as well. Eventually Saxon said the second floor will reopen with far fewer albums on display.

Robert Jensen, a Sunnyvale resident, has a record collection in the thousands that he’s built up over decades. Familiar with record shops between the Bay Area to Los Angeles, Jensen echoed Saxon, noting the in-person locations are a resource.

“You have to actually go out and make an effort [to visit record shops],” Jensen, who stopped by the shop after completing other tasks in the area, said. “It is sad but if nobody’s going to listen or want to get the experience, it’s really nobody’s fault but themselves.”

Despite his strong devotion to the shop and having done well during the pandemic, Saxon said he’s still considering what his next steps will be. The lease for the building at 1322 El Camino Real expires by the end of 2022, requiring Saxon to decide whether he’ll retire in his late 70s or move the hundreds of thousands of records he owns to another location.

Having experienced various health complications including four bouts of cancer, multiple surgeries and an upcoming knee replacement, Saxon said this could be the time he calls it quits but doing so would be bittersweet.

“I am the Record Man and there’s ego involved there,” Saxon said. “To continue would be good but to walk away might also be good, to retire.”

As Saxon considers whether to stay in business or retire, Jon Goldman, co-president of Premier Properties which owns the Record Man property, said the agency would assist in the search for a new shop, either in a warehouse or retail unit.

The Palo Alto agency has owned the property for years, allowing Saxon to rent the space for free while it prepared redevelopment plans. A proposal was formally submitted to the city, requesting approval for a 130-unit residential building with 26 units at below market rate.

Goldman said he envisions a working space, rooftop barbecue area and theater for building residents as well as a publicly-accessible community garden operated by a third party.

“We just want it to be like a home and not just a cubicle where you live,” Goldman said.

The recent fire played no role in the agency’s redevelopment plans with a proposal having been in the works for years, Goldman said. Construction on the new building could begin by the end of 2022 or in 2023 given city approval and the demolition of four apartments behind the current shop, the Record Man, Cycle Gear motorcycle shop and Happy Donuts.

It’s still unclear what will become of the Record Man and his extensive stock. If Saxon officially retires and closes up shop, Vinyl Solution in San Mateo would be the last Peninsula-based record shop and thousands of records would need to be sold.

But Saxon doubled down on his focus to find a new affordable location for the records while continuing to operate out of his current space.

“If we can find a new location that would be nice,” Saxon said. “Otherwise I might be looking at retiring. I will be 78 this year. How long do I want to go?”

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 106