Connect Records Rises From Radio-Active's Ashes in Fort Lauderdale

They say when one door closes, another opens, and in Fort Lauderdale, one beloved record store will give way to another.

Two former staffers for Radio-Active Records, the venerable vinyl emporium that closed its doors permanently on September 1, have shared exclusively with New Times their plans to open a new shop, Connect Records, in Fort Lauderdale's Thrive Art District development. The new shop's co-owners, Natalie Martinez and Mick Ford, hope to open by the first weekend of October.

"We felt like one of the main things in the industry that is needed right now is connection between communities," says Martinez, the general manager at Radio-Active since 2010, of the new shop's name. "It was also one of the only names that wasn't taken that had to do with all the ideas we had in our heads."

At 781 square feet, Connect is smaller than Radio-Active's final location, but its location in the year-old Thrive Art District affords plenty of opportunities. It's just west of the trendy Flagler District and directly north of downtown Fort Lauderdale. Revolution Live, the city's main midsized venue, is within walking distance. Radio-Active kept close ties with the Live Nation-operated venue, hosting ticket giveaways, signings, and other events; Connect's owners plan on maintaining that partnership and hope the increased proximity will help strengthen it. The shop also hired local artist Richard Verguez to design its visual identity, and the partners hope to eventually serve beer and wine at the shop in addition to selling vinyl.

Thrive's ownership has also been supportive of the new shop, which is the first retailer in the development. It currently hosts mostly arts-focused businesses such as studios and fashion retailers, although a coffee shop will soon open there. Martinez and Ford got to know the district after playing a DJ residency at Uncommon Path Brewery nearby. After looking around for locations for the shop — they wanted to stay away from Miami, which is "saturated" with excellent record stores and a standalone building or a spot with a "different atmosphere" than Radio-Active's past strip-mall locations — they found that Thrive was both affordable and conveyed the right vibe.

"They're all about having events. We've already been talking about even a street festival, things like that," Martinez says. "All the things that we couldn't really execute being in this last location for Radio-Active, being a plaza record store, we can now execute here because everyone is on board for it."

Martinez and Ford also want to distinguish themselves from Radio-Active by having Connect focus more on imported vinyl, dance music, 45s, and other specialty records. Ford says it was hard to highlight these at the old shop due to its more generalist tendencies and larger floor space.

"Being such a big shop, it was really hard to specialize in those things because those imports are more expensive, and they're harder to get," Ford adds. "So we're going to try and hone in on those things more and not worry about quantity as much as quality."

While Martinez and Ford stress that Connect is not a direct successor to the old shop — Sean Kayes, Radio-Active's longtime owner, is not involved — they hope to carry on its legacy somehow. A combination going away/grand opening party is in the works for both stores, and it will be hosted at Connect in early October, though details have not been confirmed.

Connect Records will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. The store is also interested in buying record collections and can be reached at [email protected].

Connect Records. 710 NW Fifth Ave. Ste. 1021, Fort Lauderdale; instagram.com/connectrecordshop. Opening in October 2024.