Swansong for Nick after 35 years at store
HE HAS been keeping Halifax in records for 35 years but now this popular trader is handing over the keys to his shop.
Nick Simonet is retiring and has sold Revo Records in Westgate Arcade to new owner Dave Forshaw, who also owns Skipton Sound Bar.
He said being able to do a job he has loved for 35 years has been like “hitting the jackpot”. “It’s just a dream job,” he said. Nick, 60, left school at 16 and worked in factories before opening Revo Records in 1987.
He has long had a passion for music, particularly enjoying soul and funk. The first live gig he saw was Wizard at Victoria Theatre and he is a huge fan of Paul Weller, who he even met after bumping into him on a trip to London.
Nick used to visit Music Box in Huddersfield and wanted to open a similar store.
The shop started at Bull Green in 1987 before moving to Northgate and then Westgate
Arcade, where it has been for the past 24 years.
When he started, Nick said CDs were starting to become popular. CD-buying then declined when music streaming started, but there has been a resurgence in interest in vinyl.
“People who were coming in selling their vinyls to buy CDs are now coming back selling their CDs to buy vinyls,” said Nick.
“There are some people who have been coming in for 35 years. I’m still in touch with the Saturday boys and girls and they come in with their children now. It’s lovely.”
There have been some famous shoppers at Revo since it started, including Bruce Foxton from The Jam, Shed Seven’s Rick Witter and, only last month, Sharleen Spiteri from Texas. After meeting Nick, the singer put him on the guestlist for her band’s show at Victoria Theatre and even gave the shop a shout out, describing it as “the best record shop in the world”.
Henry Carlyle-Wade, guitarist for Halifax band The Orielles, also used to work at Revo.
The new owner of Revo Records plans to continue running it as a record store.
“The legacy will live on,” Nick said.
Nick, meanwhile, plans to spend his retirement travelling with his wife Jacqui and enjoying their holiday home in Portugal.
“I’m still in touch with the Saturday boys and girls and they come in with their children now.”