In the Rochester of not so long ago, pop culture nostalgia hits had to be collected piecemeal — through toy baggies at Savers, album bins at Salvation Army, VHS pits at Goodwill, and clothing racks at all three.

Today, entrepreneurial collectors provide the city with curated nostalgic immersion. From vintage toys and comics to retro tech and long-thought-dead fashions and media formats, even a handshake from the voice actor behind a favorite childhood cartoon character — the era you long for is not far from reach.

A handful of Rochester’s nostalgia-inducing shopping destinations:

Sound

After places like Face the Music and Broadway Records closed in the early 2000s, the city remained recordstore-less for some time. Now, shops like Rochester Records, 2130 South Broadway, and Hidden World Vinyl Records, 519 2nd Ave NW, keep the city humming.

The resurgence started in 2016, when Huss Esmailzadeh, owner of Rochester Records, learned that there was not a shop within 70 miles of the city. His stock has since blossomed into almost 200,000 records and counting, plus as many CDs.

“[Nostalgia] is a major component. People come in the store and they'll see a record or something — it's almost like a time machine sends them right back into when they first heard it,” says Esmailzadeh.

It is tough to pin down, but when pressed, Huss guesses that 70s and 80s rock doles out the most nostalgia hits for his customers.

“It was just a different era of music. Especially the 80s…. it was a carefree time to live, it was live free and let everybody live free,” he says.

Even Rochester Records’ advertising strategy is nostalgic — they sponsor 89.9 KRPR’s Classic Album Show, which airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 p.m. Fridays. That’s not to say modern music has no chance at one day achieving nostalgic appeal — the shop celebrates with sales and new releases every Record Store Day, which this year falls on Black Friday.

““When somebody comes in here — the first time in, you can see there’s a sense of awe in their face. A lot of people will stand in one place, and they’ll just look and point. It’s almost like looking in a museum.””

Games

James Aakre, owner of The Machine Shed, 11 2nd St NE, credits his business’s survival to nostalgia. For seven years, he’s been doing what he said he would: bring low-res comfort into a high-res world. His business started as a retro arcade and video game store, and it still is. Its shelves teem with every kind of computer screen and gaming machine imaginable, lit by bright electric hues of arcade cabinets and throwback visuals.

“When you walk in here, it's a vibe. And it's purposely a vibe like that. It's purposefully messy,” says Aakre. “When somebody comes in here — the first time in, you can see there's a sense of awe in their face. A lot of people will stand in one place, and they'll just look and point. It's almost like looking in a museum.”

He likens it to the effect 50s-style diners had on people when he was young. It’s a passion project as much as it is a business. Aakre is uninhibited about talking with visitors to his store, and frequently spends large chunks of his day discussing arcane technology.

“Ninety-nine percent of stuff in here, I can give you a history on it and why it's important,” says Aakre.

When he opened, customers came in looking to plug back into the 80s gaming world of Ataris, Super Nintendos, and coin-operated arcades. These days, he’s noticed a shift in demand toward late 90s and early 2000s gaming devices, like Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Dreamcast.

“People keep coming back, honestly, because I always have new stuff that's old,” says Aakre.

Clothing

To Brooke Burch, owner of The Vintage Rack, the appeal of vintage clothing goes beyond nostalgia; it is sustainable, durable, and adaptable to personal styles.

“People were so innovative in the last century; every decade had its own theme and its own style,” says Burch. “In this current century that we're in, we don't have a defined style. So everyone's just picking and choosing from the last century — different details they enjoy.”

Her oldest piece is from 1930 (a jacket meant to have a petticoat underneath), but clothing from the 1970s through 1990s is most popular right now.

“Technically, the 90s is not vintage yet. But the kids these days love that type of stuff. They love the high water pants and the mom jeans and the pullover, Grandma sweaters; they're just loving that for some weird reason. I think that's more retro. It's turn of the century type clothing, and it's comfortable. That's one thing I could definitely say about 90s apparel,” says Burch.

The Vintage Rack is shoppable via instagram (@vintage_rack_) and through private bookings, as well as increasingly frequent pop-ups. Her next is on October 15, at Cafe Steam, 315 South Broadway. Items from her collection are also on consignment at The Clover and Rose Boutique, 923 6th St NW, The Rochester Art Center, 30 Civic Center Dr, and Treedome, 309 Broadway Ave S, which somehow manages to combine every category of collectable in this article (plus skateboards) in one shop while retaining a historic bartop.

Toys

Next door to The Machine Shed, Midwest Vintage Toys, 11 2nd St NE, is almost overflowing with action figures. Its racks are jammed with loose and carded G.I. Joe, Star Wars, wrestling, and super hero characters, its upper shelves support a fleet of boxed Star Wars vehicles, and carded figures hang from a line across the ceiling.

“It's crazy what can trigger you to go on a buying spree, just based off of childhood memories and good feelings from when you're a kid or just wanting to get something that you remember having as a kid,” says store manager Jake Sharpen.

Even he manages to be surprised sometimes.

“You can only see so many 90 Star Wars figures, I guess. But we're getting such big collections, even these [toy] lines that I see a lot of. I'm seeing guys that I've never seen before in the line. It's exciting when you feel like you have seen the entire line, and then you were wrong,” says Sharpen.

Across town, NerdinOut, 1802 2nd St. SW, is a container for nostalgia both new and burgeoning. The shop opened in 2017 and now sells both new and vintage comics, toys, trading cards, video games, and whatever else has a nerdy edge to it. The operation has grown to include a laser tag arena, a second retail location in Inver Grove Heights (which just celebrated its second year of operation), and a full-blown convention.

NerdinOut Con 4 happens October 7, 8, and 9 at the Mayo Civic Center. The nostalgia there is tangible, with pop culture vendors, cosplayers, and celebrities from old favorite shows. Some of the more nostalgic guests: Denise Crosby of Star Trek: The Next Generation and voice actors from X-Men, Transformers, and Sailor Moon.

“Just being closer to one of those characters we really latched onto, that made us feel like we could do something more or be something more — I think that's really what people enjoy meeting those people for,” says owner Brad Vigesaa.

Bryan Lund is a Rochester-based writer and regular contributor to Med City Beat