Photograph by Molly Szymanski.Jon Lottman, who launched the virtual record store Spin Time Records in 2021, has opened a brick-and-mortar location to sell his well-curated selection of vinyl—a stock that heavily favors local musicians. Spin Time started as a pandemic-inspired career shift—Lottman used to work as a videographer and documentary filmmaker who focused on environmental issues. The idea was a way to combine the love he has for his hometown and his interest in record collecting. The Capitol Hill native says he believes that if record stores specialize in something, they bring a better experience to the customer. “People will ask, ‘Is this any good?’ If it’s in here, that means it’s at least pretty good,” he says. While the virtual business blossomed, Lottman spent years looking for a store location and jumping through bureaucratic hoops. The shop is just blocks away from Spin Time’s original location in his rowhome. The store sits on the second floor of a mixed-use building between a whiskey bar and some apartments and is split into two sections: a walk through various genres of DC music—including soul, go-go, jazz, hip hop, punk, and Americana—and a curated selection of Lottman’s favorite genre, reggae, because, as he says on Spin Time’s website, “every city needs that.” There is some crossover between the two, including releases from DC-area reggae band Loving Paupers and ska group the Pietasters. Though Lottman claims to not be an expert in DC music history, he has acquired an impressive assortment through time of what the city has to offer. In the local section, albums range from 1960s folk recordings to local punk band Bad Moves’s 2024 LP, but are almost all new pressings rather than secondhand, ensuring that the artists directly benefit from Spin Time’s sales. Since he opened the physical store on November 2, Lottman says that business has doubled, if not tripled. While he’s grateful for the success and is looking forward to running the shop and possibly hiring new staff, right now, he’s just enjoying the moment, happy to be giving back to the community that raised him. “I went to school here, moved back here when I started working as an adult, I met my wife here, and raised my daughter here,” he says. DC  has“put its stamp on me, and I should put my stamp on it, you know?” 613 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. Open Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6 PM, and Wednesday through Friday 11 to 5.The post Spin Time Records Has Opened a Physical Store first appeared on Washingtonian.