LAST MONTH, THE father-and-son duo of Moden and Oliver Thibideau celebrated the grand opening of CTYZN Records in the Carmel Arts & Design District, bringing a record shop to Carmel for the very first time.
Located at 420 W. Main St., CTYZN (pronounced Citizen) Records carries a curated blend of vinyl, CDs, cassettes, thrifted finds, new releases, rare pulls, and oddball treasures. As a musician and longtime music lover, Oliver (age 18) couldn’t be more excited about opening the shop.
“I have wanted to open a record store for two years now,” he says. “It had been a dream of mine. That initially started because I’ve always been into music. And growing up, my parents always had vinyl record players. So music has always been around me my whole life.”
As the owner of an advertising firm, Moden was looking for a new place where he could house his office when he stumbled upon the Main Street location.
“I came over here, saw the space, and when I saw that front area with the double doors, I was like, ‘This could be a great opportunity for Oliver to do his thing,’” Moden says. “He had just graduated from high school early. We didn’t really have plans for college—we’re a pretty entrepreneurial family. So I just came home and was like, ‘Hey. I just signed the lease. Are you ready to open your record store?’”
When it comes to their selection, Oliver says CTYZN Records’ inventory mostly consists of used items at the moment.
“Primarily right now, it’s mostly used stuff,” he says. “We’re working with some independent distributors to get some newer things in here. We’ll have a couple of Record Store Day exclusive albums, too.”
In addition to creating a place where patrons can purchase music from their favorite artists, Oliver also hopes to host live performances in the shop’s back space, allowing it to serve as an incubator of sorts for local music talent.
“I’m really into the local music scene and places downtown like the Hi-Fi and Healer,” he says. “There’s such a strongly knit community, and I just felt like we were lacking something like that up here. We have so much talent in our community. We just didn’t really have a place for people to show it off.”
Since the shop’s grand opening on January 23, Oliver says the Carmel community has expressed nothing but excitement.
“It’s been overwhelmingly positive and way bigger than I ever expected,” he says of the reception. “We had 200 people for the opening—we were packed to the brim in here. We love to see people buying the music that they want to hear.”
As he continues to let Oliver lead the charge, Moden says he’ll be right by his son’s side, supporting him when he needs it.
“He has a vision and knows what he wants to do,” Moden says. “I’m just trying to help encourage that.”
CTYZN Records is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, visit CTYZNRecords.com.
