Inside the East Village’s Plucky New Record Shop, Limited to One

Last month we wrote about Limited to One, the soon-to-be-unveiled 10th St. vinyl collectors’ haven that hopes to shake up the stereotype of the dusty East Village record shop. Created by the people behind the podcast and cult Instagram RecordNerdz, Limited to One says it plans to focus on contemporary limited-edition and rare vinyl runs — and in the process perhaps become “the Flight Club of record stores.”

No small order, and one that sparked a fierce debate among opinionated vinyl aficionados in our comments section. Particular heat was generated by Limited to One founder Kristian Sorge’s assertion that the vinyl collecting industry is controlled by a junta of “pony-tailed, Dylan-loving old guard.” An internecine battle broke out between the aforementioned old guard and those who defended the arriviste upstart.

Limited to One officially opened Saturday. On Friday, Sorge and his founding partner/girlfriend Nichole Porges had been working round-the-clock to stock the shelves before a friends-and-family “soft opening” tonight. “Of course all my friends will try to convince me to let them buy records tonight, which I’m not going to let them do,” laughed Sorge as he and Porges gave me a tour of the store. Around us employees and friends carefully assembled furniture and unloaded inventory, debating how to price and grade collectible items.

Limited to One’s sub-street level storefront is small but welcoming, and marked by a fastidious attention to detail. The space has a very clean aesthetic, devoid of the kind of visual (and literal) clutter usually associated with record stores. That attention to detail includes custom-made mid-century-modern-influenced album racks with glass fronts to better display the records and a specially designed credenza with rows of slots for 45s.

In addition, all of the records have “obi strips” on their sleeves — hand-written labels which include grades (“near mint,” etc.) for each album’s sleeve and sound quality. The records’ prices range anywhere from $5 to $400. Most appear to be in the $20 to $80 range.

As promised, the albums lean contemporary, with a lot of pop-punk, indie and alt-rock, and some hip hop. (The $400 one, incidentally, is a rare edition of the White Stripes’ Get Behind Me Satan.) Limited to One also does its own limited-edition print runs in collaboration with indie music labels, so those will be sold in-store as well.

After a quick tour (the store is just one room) I decided to get out of Sorge and Porges’s way — the clock was ticking, and they clearly had a lot more records to sort.

Limited to One is located at 221 E. 10th St. between First and Second Avenues; its hours are Tuesdays to Thursdays 10-7, Fridays to Saturdays 10-8, and Sundays 11-7.