RICHMOND, Virginia – Chet Bland and Eugene Henry were among the few retail workers still showing up as the sun sets over Carytown in Richmond on Friday night.

“Christmas Eve from start to finish has been great so far,” Bland said. “We are devastated. It’s been super busy.

Bland’s dad started Plan 9 Music on Cary Street, where he is a used music buyer and front desk clerk.

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Over the past decade, an upsurge in the popularity of vinyl has kept customers coming back.

“Last Saturday before Christmas we had, I think, over 60 people in the store at a time, which is definitely a peak from last year,” Bland explained.

But, like many industries right now, records are scarce.

” There’s not enough ! There are never enough copies at this time. On the one hand, that’s a big deal for us to have, ”said Bland. “The baling factories are really trying to keep up with the number of people who want this record.”

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Bob Broomfield across the street at Bits + Pixels concluded another successful sales season on Christmas Eve.

“We’re done! We’ve reached the finish line,” said Broomfield.

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Thanks to the pandemic, much of his business has moved online, but he still welcomes shoppers to his 14-year-old physical store.

Americans will spend $ 886 billion on holiday retail sales by Dec. 25, according to statista.com

Like vinyl, video game players young and old are investing and buying retro games and consoles again.

“It’s empty because we were literally wiped out of all of our consoles,” Broomfield said, pointing to a display case where the consoles were sitting.

Despite a pandemic that has been so disruptive for the past two years, the holidays are shaping up to be bright for Carytown business owners.

The Christmas sales may be coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean the end of good savings, according to business owners. Bits + Pixels is gearing up for another end-of-year sale before 2022.