It’s no secret that the picturesque downtown Oshkosh is  home to many wonderful small businesses, shops and restaurants. The area acts as an activity hub for local shopping, dining, entertainment, housing and much more for students and residents alike. 

But among all of these businesses, one shop sits at the center of the local music scene and stands as a staple of local entertainment and interest.

Eroding Winds Record Shop, located on 436 N. Main St. next to Oblio’s Lounge and across from Britton’s Walk-Over Footwear, is a self-described “vinyl-focused brick and mortar retail store.”

Eroding Winds offers a unique and intricate experience for music lovers in the Fox Valley area, selling records, both new and old, for every music genre under the sun. 

To many in the Oshkosh area, Eroding Winds serves as a center for music appreciation and music related activity.

To owner Adam Bartlett, the shop is a dream come true. Bartlett’s love of music became a passion when he began working for the Exclusive Company in 2000. 

Even at the age of 17, Bartlett knew that his future lay in music. Since then he has done a lot of work in the industry, such as working for content distributors, being a member of multiple bands, working for music labels, booking shows, operating an online store and even founding his own media label, Gilead Media. According to Bartlett, things really began to take off after he decided to open a storefront for his company. 

“When it came time for the online store to outgrow my basement, I had to find a place to rent,” Bartlett said. “It made sense to open up a storefront if I was already paying rent for a space and I already had the knowledge to run a shop.”

Bartlett, a native of the area, decided that the city of Oshkosh was the perfect place to open his storefront. Thus, he moved back to the area after living in Ohio for some odd years and opened the Eroding Winds storefront in 2016. Since then, Bartlett and his team have enjoyed more than half a decade of successful business and interest and support from locals. 

As business grew over time, so did business opportunities, eventually leading to the grand opening of a second Eroding Winds storefront. The second storefront, located on 229 E. College Ave. in Appleton, was opened to the public on July 8, 2022, and has since garnered mass success. 

When asked about his reasoning for opening a second storefront in Appleton, Bartlett claimed that it was a strategic business move. 

“It just made perfect sense to fill the void left behind when the Exclusive Company closed,” Bartlett said. “The population is greater in the Appleton area and people buy a lot of records up there, so it was a perfect evolution and a once in a lifetime opportunity that needed to be taken.” 

Bartlett has enjoyed operating the successful shop, taking in the highs and lows that come with being an owner of a small business. In his time operating Eroding Winds, Bartlett has come to find the most joy in ordering records for the shop, as well as getting to talk to shoppers about music.

“I love ordering records for the shop and looking through used buys,” he said. “That’s one of  the most fun parts, getting to spend money on cool records and talk to folks at the store (about cool records).” 

Eroding Winds is unique and stands out as one of the few operating record stores in the Fox Valley area, as well as being one of the most successful record retailers that the Fox Cities has ever known. Bartlett and his storefronts fill a need for the community, actively fostering local residents’ love for music. 

“It’s a lot of work to stay on top of all the new music folks are looking for, but it’s been a joy to supply that for the community,” Bartlett said. “Of course people can find records at antique malls and the like, but being a true brick and mortar record shop is something special and unique, it’s an honor to be that place.”   

Eroding Winds Record Shop is located on 436 N. Main St. in Oshkosh, or 229 E. College Ave. in Appleton, for an in-person shopping experience like no other in the Valley. For more information about the shop, visit erodingwinds.com/ or visit the storefront locations.