Record Collector: Broomhill's much-loved vinyl institution since 1978

Look out for the hand-painted red and yellow shopfront on Fulwood Road. Behind it lies Record Collector, a Broomhill favourite that has been at the heart of Sheffield's music scene since July 1978.

The shop was opened by Barry Everard, who had previously managed Virgin Records in Sheffield, and decades later he is still part of the story. "I opened it, so I'm the sort of continuity through the whole thing," he told Our Favourite Places.

Record Collector started out in a small early Victorian parade of shops, and in the 1980s it took over the unit next door to meet the growing demand for CDs. It still occupies that same space today, and it is described as the largest independent vinyl and CD store in South Yorkshire.

The stock is enormous: around 50,000 vinyl titles, new and second-hand, and around 25,000 CDs, though not all of it is on display at once. The latest releases by local bands sit alongside the classics, so it is as good for discovering Sheffield's newest talent as it is for hunting down an old favourite.

The shop has earned plenty of famous admirers. Jarvis Cocker of Pulp and Def Leppard's Joe Elliott have both sung its praises, and Drenge held an album signing there on release day. Our Favourite Places calls it a "Broomhill music lovers' mecca" and "a recognised national treasure."

Record Store Day each April is a highlight of the calendar, with hundreds of people queuing outside. The shop's story was told in Last Shop Standing, the official book of Record Store Day 2010, and its queue of around 400 people appeared in the film of the same name.

Now Then Magazine once described it as "a mecca for avid music fans", and in an age of streaming there is something reassuring about a shop like this: shelves to browse and a place where the city's record buyers keep coming back year after year.

Record Collector is at 233-235 Fulwood Road, S10 3BA, and opens from 10am to 6pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It is worth checking hours before you visit.