The owner of a record shop in Llanidloes is calling it a day as he is retiring after 50 years in the business.

Mike Breeze, owner of Rainbow Records on Great Oak Street in Llanidloes, has announced he has shut up the shop for the final time after 14 years in Llanidloes and 50 years of buying, selling and swapping records across Powys.

Having started with a market stall in Welshpool and then moving to a premises in Newtown on Park Street, Mr Breeze has called Llanidloes the home of his Rainbow Records shop for the past 14 years, but the 70-year-old is now ready to spin a record there for the last time.

He said: “First and foremost I’d want to thank the many customers and friends I’ve made at all my shops and stalls over the many years, now that I’m calling it a day and hanging up my boots.

“Since I’m closing up my Llanidloes shop I’d also want to give a special thanks to Williams Family Butchers, who have been my wonderful landlords for the past 14 years.”

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Mr Breeze first started selling records in 1974 and has seen some ups and downs in the business, but in the past few years has been “delighted” to see vinyl revival taking place over the past decade.

He added: “There are too many highlights to count, but it’s been especially wonderful to have seen records take this journey from being hugely popular when I first started, dying gradually only to then make a big comeback.

“The circle has come around completely now to the point where I’ve been selling more records than CDs.

“What’s also been fantastic is seeing that it’s the younger generation buying them up, people who weren’t even born when I first started.

They’re also buying the records I was also selling 30 years ago. Things like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Nirvana. It’s the stuff their parents listened to and have passed on to them.”

While the shop has shut, Mr Breeze said he would still be selling records a few days a week. He has a regular stall at Newtown’s Tuesday Market and a Churchstoke market on Sundays.

“I’m still keeping busy”, he said, “And reconnecting with a few old customers who knew me from my Newtown shop. I think I’ve ended up swapping a few records I sold them 30 years ago.”