SLO County record store is opening second location in Paso Robles: ‘We sell nostalgia’

Popular San Luis Obispo County record store Traffic Records is set to open a second location by the end of September — this one in Paso Robles.

The Atascadero business is expanding with a new spot at 610 10th St., Unit C., in Paso Robles.

In a Facebook post, Traffic Records owner Manuel Barba thanked the community for its support.

“We are so very proud and excited to extend our brand further into the North County and provide another killer spot for records, music, audio, culture and much more,” Barba wrote in the post.

Like the flagship Traffic Records store, located at 5850 Traffic Way in Atascadero, the new Paso Robles shop will specialize in vinyl music recordings as well as audio equipment.

“We sell nostalgia,” Barba told The Tribune. “People will come in here and buy a record they haven’t seen in 50 years.”

Bringing vinyl to North County

Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1980s and ’90s, Barba was surrounded by music — from jazz to hip hop.

Barba said he took over his late uncle’s collection of vinyl at age 11, noting that his uncle had several unopened records he was never able to listen to before he died suddenly.

At a young age, Barba began working as an amateur DJ in the Los Angeles party scene.

During those formative years, “music and vinyl records and the content within them was ... becoming symbiotic with my own identity,” Barba said.

When he moved to San Luis Obispo County more than two decades ago, Barba worked at Boo Boo Records for several years in downtown San Luis Obispo under store owner Mike White.

Prior to opening Traffic Records in Atascadero in 2018, Barba earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology and spent time working in the mental health care industry — all while cultivating a sizable vinyl collection.

“(The record store) just kind of happened. It was not part of any major plan,” Barba said. “(That) is probably part of its magic. I’m just kind of faking it, winging it as I go.”

Barba decided to take his passion for music to the North County — specifically Atascadero — because he saw an untapped opportunity for the business.

The business owner said his store survived the coronavirus pandemic with additional “momentum.” Now, Barba said, his inventory has outgrown the Atascadero space.

Barba said picking Paso Robles was a “no-brainer.”

“The affluence, the volume of tourism that comes through (Paso Robles) ... is crazy,” Barba said.

Barba said that the date of the new location’s soft opening will be announced soon, adding that it will be sometime in September. He plans to host a grand opening party in October.

Barba is looking to hire at least one full-time employee and one part-time employee for the Paso Robles location, he said on Facebook.

For more information, call 805-464-2994 or visit trafficrecordstore.com.

This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 11:00 AM.