Wheaton’s Mile Long Records moving to a larger space

Mile Long Records, an independent record store in Wheaton, will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in October and a move to a new location.

Owner Michael Paeth announced that Mile Long is moving to a new spot at 128 W. Liberty Drive, also in Wheaton. Since October 2014, the store has been at 350 W. Front St., just north of the Union Pacific West railroad tracks.

Paeth said he plans to move nonessential inventory within a week. Paeth looks to be operational on Liberty Drive by mid-October. The Front Street location will remain open until the move.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Paeth said. “I think we’ll make a smooth transition from one to another.”

The new location is south of the tracks, near the corner of Liberty Drive and Wheaton Avenue. For years, it housed an office of the Illinois Secretary of State Vehicle Services Department. Most recently, Pedego Electric Bikes was there.

The new Mile Long Records, a wider and deeper footprint of roughly 2,000 square feet, will give Paeth more space than what he has on Front Street.

He said it’ll offer a storage area that’ll comprise about a quarter to a third of the ground-level store, while the retail area will be about 30% to 40% larger than what he currently has.

In addition, there is greater availability for customer parking on both sides of Liberty Drive and a parking lot west of Wheaton Avenue. The lot is leased during business hours during the week but available evenings and weekends — “which is perfect,” Paeth said.

“I did need more space, and I did want a space that had a storage area,” he said. “It makes things very complicated to have every single bit of your inventory out in the open in our existing store, so that’s part of it. And the additional space will allow us to start hosting live music.”

That has long been a goal of Paeth, who in April had his most successful “Record Store Day” event in Mile Long Records history with an estimated 400 transactions.

He said the new store will present “no big curveballs” to customers. Paeth’s homemade record bins offering new and used records and other bins filled with genre selections, including metal, punk and movie soundtracks will occupy the same general layout.

He’s considering a grand reopening in November.

A Wheaton resident, Paeth has long been familiar with the new space, having visited it during its use by the Secretary of State.

“I would love to have that space,” he recalled thinking. “I remember the creaky floors. And every time I walk in there now, it’s the same creaky floors from the DMV. I love it.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240924/small-business/wheatons-mile-long-records-moving-to-a-larger-space/