The green-walled Woody’s Gentlemen’s Clothiers has sat empty since it closed at the end of 2016. Now, the space is set to come back to life as Vinyl Renaissance, one of three record stores in downtown Columbia.

Vinyl Renaissance will be moving from its North Tenth Street location to the new location, on South Ninth Street, in May. They hope to open on the first of the month.

“We outgrew the space,” manager Nick Soha said. “We really like it here on North Tenth, but we had the opportunity to move.”

Soha previously managed Streetside Records in Columbia before it closed in early 2013, and he has been manager at Vinyl Renaissance since the store, originally from Kansas City, opened a Columbia location in 2014.

The store will be participating in Record Store Day, an annual event for independent record stores around the country, on April 22. After that, it will begin packing up and moving to the new location.

“I think there’s potential for them to get more business in that location,” sophomore Meg Cunningham said. “I think a lot of record shopping is just wandering in and finding something, so I think that [the new location] will help their business.”

Prior to closing, the store is having a moving sale, in which all used LPs, CDs and 45s dated April 2016 or earlier are 50 percent off, according to several flyers around the store. The new grand opening will have “some new product, some different product,” Soha said.

At the new location, Vinyl Renaissance plans to continue having in-store gigs and performances. The store also hopes to expand hours once it moves in expectation of more foot traffic.

“We’ll definitely ramp it up over there,” Soha said. “We’ll have to get everything set up to see what kind of space we have.”

Vinyl Renaissance is currently located at 16 N. Tenth St. and is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.

“The staff’s excited, all the customers who have come in here are excited,” Soha said. “It’s a new beginning.”

_Edited by Katie Rosso | krosso@themaneater.com_