7/22/22 UPDATE: WAX ATLAS NEEDS YOUR HELP FINDING A NEW SPACE FOR THE STORE!

Hey Friends. For a number of reasons, largely outside of anyone’s control, Wax Atlas’ move to Lauraville’s SoHa building is no longer happening as planned.

We are thankful to SoHa and the Lauraville community for giving us a home for the past two years and for helping carry us through the pandemic.

This is not the end of Wax Atlas, but it is an unexpected bump in the road. The lease in our current space expires on August 15, which means we’ve got 3 weeks to find a new home for thousands and thousands of records, cds, and books. .

We’d like to remain in the Hamilton-Lauraville corridor, but, more than anything, we want to find a place where our store, our recycling efforts, and our desire to host local musicians and artists can all be accommodated.

At the moment, we're looking for an affordable storefront space or barring that, a warehouse or other temporary situation in which to lay low while we recalibrate.

All that to say, we still need your help! We previously paused our move-related gofundme campaign as we waited for plans to solidify. Now that we know what we don’t know, it is active again and even more critical. Please drop us a dime or two if you’re able, and keep your ear to the ground on any available spots, long term or temporary.

Yes, it’s a bummer to wait longer to see our dream achieved. But, though break a string from time to time, we'll NEVER stop rocking. XOXO -Andy / Wax Atlas

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The crew at Wax Atlas is excited to announce that, nearly 2 years after the plans were drawn up, our new, expanded storefront in the heart of lovely Lauraville is set to open JUNE 3, 2022. The new space features twice the floor space, a performance area for community programming and lots of other awesome additions. We will offer expanded stock, locally made goods, and tons of new items.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that multiple lockdowns, expansion delays, and other devastating financial setbacks have put us in a precarious financial position. So, we’re asking for your help covering moving/transition costs.

Your contribution goes toward actual moving costs, paying our staff during transition, and helping secure additional warehouse space for our wholesale recycling program.

What’s that last bit? Well, Wax Atlas actually STARTED as a recycling initiative and we never stopped. We’ve since salvaged over 1.2 million pieces of legacy media that would otherwise go to the dump. That's in addition to what we’ve sold in the store. How? More on that below in the "More About Us" section. First, let’s talk about rewards…..

WHAT YOU GET:

To show our thanks, we’re excited to offer the following gifts based on your donation.

$20 - You’ll will receive a Wax Atlas sticker / pin pack

$40 - You’ll receive a Wax Atlas sticker / pin pack as well as 1 Random Vinyl LP from the Friends Records Catalog (this can be subbed for 2 cds or 2 cassettes)

$60 - You’ll receive a Wax Atlas sticker / pin pack as well as 2 Random Vinyl LP from the Friends Records Catalog (this can be subbed for 2 cds or 2 cassettes)

$80 - You’ll receive a Wax Atlas T Shirt, plus a Wax Atlas sticker / pin pack as well as 2 Random Vinyl LP from the Friends Records Catalog (this can be subbed for 2 cds or 2 cassettes)

$100 - You’ll receive all of the above, plus a $20 gift card to the store.

$500 - we’ll give you everything above PLUS 15% off on any used item, FOR LIFE.

MORE ABOUT US:

Peak behind the curtain and you'll find a family founded media reuse / recycling e-commerce organization that partners with other stores, nonprofits, resellers, e-commerce companies, and the public to divert large lots of used records, electronics, CDs, DVDs, cassettes, books and other forms of physical media from the dump.

We started cranking through discards in an unfinished basement in 2017. Since then, our small team of caring, knowledgeable, hardworking and ever-adventurous music nerds have saved more than 1.2 million items that were LITERALLY going into the trash otherwise.

How do we do it?

Well, most used retail stores can’t stock even a fraction of the items brought to them for sale (not necessarily because it’s bad stuff but because it may not sell in that specific market or because the condition isn’t pristine). That’s where we jump in to help. When you bring items to us, we make an offer on EVERYTHING.

We take what we can use in our shop, and then, using a range of eCommerce platforms as well as partnerships with flea markets, antique shops, and other small dealers, we get the rest where it needs to go. Items that are too beat up to send out? We are trying to find a reuse for every item. Whether selling music to be enjoyed or unplayable pieces for arts and crafts, we’re always looking for innovative, or even simplistic, ways to reuse every item.

What’s with those HUGE loads we often bring in?

People don’t realize that even the best thrift stores and great nonprofits (Goodwill, Salvation Army, ETC) receive SIGNIFICANTLY more CDs, records, tapes and other types of media than they can process on their own. Sometimes they simply lack the manpower or expertise. Often it’s cheaper to throw things away than keep them in storage. Luckily, we’re on it.

When the call comes, Andy hops into a 20-foot truck, and picks up CDs, DVDs, and all manner of other items by the 700lb pallet. Then, our staff (mostly local artists and musicians) sorts out the most sellable stuff, batches other items together for wholesale, and salvage any usable materials from everything else

Sure, it's a lot of work, but our mission is to save as much media as possible. Thanks for helping us do that!