Ragin’ again. After 34 years, this independent record shop returns to Fresno’s Tower District

Paul Cruikshank has built three solid record collections in his life.

And with each one, he opened a store.

The latest, at 1118 N. Fulton St. in Fresno’s Tower District, has its grand opening at 11 a.m. Saturday.

“I always liked records; I always liked retail,” says Cruikshank, who opened his first shop, Ragin’ Records, on Belmont Avenue in 1987.

The store became a cultural hot spot on Olive Avenue in the ’90s, before eventually moving north to Bullard Avenue. It closed in 1995, but not before spawning a second location in Visalia, which had its own renown as the place where Weezer first broke big, according to no less than Rivers Cuomo himself.

For awhile, Cruikshank fell into a corporate gig. His second shop, Dynamite Vinyl, didn’t open until 2015.

It was a kind of “museum to all things hip, punk, indie and obscure.” It had records, yes, but also books, art, vinyl toys and a space for an all-ages music venue. It closed after two years.

The new shop brings back the Ragin’ Records name and also the focus on recorded music.

There will be no in-store performances. There’s no room, really, among the wooden racks lined with thousands of new, used and collectible LPs and CDs. There will be art (from Camille Rose Garcia) and toys (action figures from Super7), but they will be extremely limited.

The store’s focus is heavy on punk and indie-rock, because that’s what Cruikshank is into. But there’s also hip hop, electronic music and a surprising collection of disco records, he says.

Much of the stock is really clean, first pressings, and can run $75 or more. In fact, much more, judging by the store’s trophy wall where it showcases all the really rare and collectible stuff. Those can cost upward of $350.

Of course, not everyone is a collector and there are some 6,000 LPs priced below $75. Part of Cruikshank’s job will be educating people about what they’re buying. Why, for example, one copy of a Led Zeppelin record might cost $300 and another might be $12, even though they look the same.

“How are they going to know?” Cruickshank says.

There will be signage in the store to help people through that process.

The store does carry new records – 1,500 or so, from labels like Burger Records, Easy Rider Records and Sub Pop.

It has to, Cruikshank says. Turning people on to new music is an important part of what record stores do. Cruikshank still gets stopped by “kids” who bought records at the old Ragin’ Records and want to tell him how the music he turned them on to saved their lives.

“I call them kids,” Cruikshank says, “but they are 40-year-olds.”

Details: Ragin Records, 1118 N. Fulton, St. Open noon to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. 559-369-7234, Ragin’ Records - Fresno, California on Facebook.

This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 10:30 AM.