![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.soulpittmedia.com\/images\/720recordsarticle1.jpg\")
\nPut Jimi Hendrix, Mos Def , Wiz Khalifa, and a little Duke Ellington into a box and shake it up and it would literally spit out 720 Record Shop.<\/p>\n
\nPut Jimi Hendrix, Mos Def , Wiz Khalifa, and a little Duke Ellington into a box and shake it up and it would literally spit out 720 Record Shop.<\/p>\n
Enter the old-school but hip-hop styled caf\u00e9, slash record store, slash vintage clothing spot at the corner of 44th<\/sup> \u00a0and Butler Street in Lawrenceville, \u00a0and you could be anywhere from Amsterdam to Soho, London to \u00a0NYC. The record shop joins a growing number of funky clothing stores, bars, restaurants and coffee shops nestled away on Lawrenceville\u2019s main thoroughfare just blocks away from the new Children\u2019s Hospital. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLawrenceville is one of the few neighborhoods that despite gentrification have been able to maintain a balance between the old and the new,\u201d<\/em> said Jovon Mitchell, one of the four owners of 720.\u00a0 Her husband Nate Mitchell, another member of the owner quartet adds, \u201cThe residents and the business owners are happy about the direction the neighborhood is going in and we want to keep it that way.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n 720 Record Shop is actually the brainchild of James Scoglietti, a local Pittsburgh disc jockey and lover of vinyl records.\u00a0 Scoglietti opened the original shop on Oakland\u2019s college campus in 1999, then moved it to East Liberty in 2002 and had yet another move to Squirrel Hill in 2008.\u00a0 In late 2010, he joined forces with the Mitchell lovebirds and fourth owner Andrew Burger to create the current 720 Record Shop. 720 officially opened its new doors on Butler Street last year.\u00a0 The bearded-half of the couple currently owns, operates and offers a nappy solution to your styling needs at Natural Choice Barbershop in Oakland.<\/p>\n The store boasts an extremely eclectic clientele.\u00a0 Stepping into the shop on any given day hip-hoppers with long dreads, business men with white khakis and flip-flops, or smoky-eyed, grungy teens clad with patent leather could be searching the crates of vinyl, hip-hop, jazz and techno-funk records, or enjoying pastries and free Wi-Fi.<\/p>\n The husband-wife duo running the storefront credits the diversity of their clientele to the gentrification of Pittsburgh.\u00a0 The female Mitchell says while gentrification does have some negatives (i.e. the push-out of poor residents and loss of persona in once cultured neighborhoods), African-Americans should embrace the better aspects of change.\u00a0 She says the opportunity for revived neighborhoods to provide business hubs for fresh, urban ideas is one of the upsides.<\/p>\n J. Mitchell says the uprising of Pittsburgh\u2019s inner-city awakened her goal of wanting to start a vintage clothing shop.\u00a0 That mixed with her husband\u2019s days as a DJ and his relationship with Scoglietti made 720 a reality.\u00a0 \u201c720 is actually the revolution of two records on a turn-table,\u201d explains Nate. With the exception of Ms. Mitchell, the other three owners are DJs.<\/p>\n Jovon regularly travels to DC, NYC and small towns in Pennsylvania to find clothes with an old-time flair, but new school kick.\u00a0 Something she calls Instant Vintage.\u00a0 She says many local vintage-addicts even have her shop with them exclusively in mind.<\/p>\n In the future the couple imagines growth without corporate takeover.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to become corporate,\u201d says Nate.\u00a0\u00a0 While Jovon adds, \u201cWe like the idea of being an Espresso Bar,\u201d Jovon adds.\u00a0 The couple hopes to add vintage clothing for kids, possibly gain some low-key night life recognition and possibly open some 720 replicas.\u00a0 But for now, Jovon says she\u2019s happy with the direction of the store and the neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to reinvest in our communities,\u201d Jovon said, \u201cIf you want something to change you<\/em> have to bring it to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n Put Jimi Hendrix, Mos Def , Wiz Khalifa, and a little Duke Ellington into a box and shake it up and it would literally spit out 720 Record Shop. Enter the old-school but hip-hop styled caf\u00e9, slash record store, slash … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.soulpittmedia.com\/images\/720recordsarticle2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nArticle first published in the Fall 2012 Soul Pitt Quarterly Edition.<\/em><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"