Vintage Underground a hip new Lewes shop

Vintage Underground owner Jen Mason's description of her new Lewes shop is simple: it's music, clothes and stuff she likes.

Opening recently in the basement under her bookstore, Biblion, the store offers a selection of vinyl records, used CDs and cassettes, and music accessories and art. It also features a wide selection of vintage clothing – at least 20 years old – along with funky home decor, fun gifts and other unique items.

"About 60 percent of my clientele [at Biblion] is millennial and younger," she said. "I guess I feel sort of protective of the [younger generations] who love Lewes too. I want there to be plenty of stuff for them to do here, too."

Vintage Underground is not a thrift store or a secondhand shop. Mason picks out all of the music and clothing herself – the records are cleaned and checked for flaws, and all of the clothing is cleaned, prepped and steamed.

If there are obvious flaws on a record, she'll test play it just to make sure it sounds fine and price it accordingly.

"There are some records that are premium pricing, but mostly I price records so that a collector can come in here and have fun while they're here," she said. "I don't have the time to read every gutter to see what factory it came out of, but somebody who collects will love doing that. I'm more about letting things flow through."

The shop's collection includes new vinyl records from independent labels and a selection of pre-owned records. Mason is particularly proud of the shop's collection of jazz, blues, funk and soul.

To enter Vintage Underground, folks must walk behind Biblion on Market Street. Music will likely greet patrons as they enter. Sometimes it will be a record over the sound system, but other times it will be live music.

"I've wanted to do a music store for a long time, but I had ruled this space out because I wanted to have a live music component, and the ceilings in here are obviously too low, and it would be downright painful," she said. "Then one day it hit me that there's a little mezzanine [inside the entrance]."

Mason's plan is to have artists set up on the mezzanine and play unplugged sets. The musicians would welcome patrons as they head down into the basement.

"If you're an upstart, there's nothing intimidating about it," she said. "You're just hanging out and playing; you don't have an audience sitting in front of you watching your every move."

Mason expects the music to project down into the shop, adding to the shopping experience.

On the clothing side of the shop, Mason said, there's a wide selection of men's and women's clothing from mid-century to the 1990s with a few vintage-inspired pieces mixed in. Clothing at Vintage Underground is not separated by gender.

"It's wear what you like," she said. "We have tops and not tops."

The shop is also a free speech zone. Customers should expect to hear explicit language in the music played and see potentially offensive language on gifts and other items.

Vintage Underground is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but is often open later. In June, the shop will extend its hours to 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

To learn more about the shop, go to www.undergroundlewes.com.