FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Thousands of vinyl records found new homes after Record Store Day during one of the busiest days of the year for record stores. The day started with around 70 people waiting in front of Welcome Back Records before its opening at 8 a.m., some who had been there since 1 0 p.m. the night before. Owner of Welcome Back Records, Morrison Agen, said it was "heartwarming" to see such a big crowd since the store had relocated from Broadway to Calhoun Street just months ago. "It's kind of like seeing our old friends," Agen said. "A lot of the folks who hang out and stand in line all night they're people who are here all the time anyway. We see a lot of new faces as well. A lot of folks bring their kids." Beyond bringing the community in to celebrate the spirit of vinyl, Record Store Day also boosts brick-and-mortar sellers' sales. Chris Roets, owner of Wooden Nickle Music, said he also noticed large crowds throughout the day at his store location on Anthony Boulevard, totaling 500 customers. This year, the three Wooden Nickle stores sold about 1,500 new records and 328 used ones. Being open for 43 years, he said it's always "many times the average day" in sales. Agen said Welcome Back Records made over 200 transactions on Saturday. He said Record Store Day is vital to ensure his company survives. "It's easily our biggest day of the year," Agen said. "There are months in the summer where we don't do as much business as we do on Record Store Day. It's the thing that helps us make sure our staff gets taken care of, our vendors are getting taken care of, that we're getting taken care of." It's not just local businesses that reap the rewards of larger sales. Agen said several local artists use Welcome Back Records to get their name out through posting concert fliers and selling their records. With the store's crowds, Welcome Back Records employee Cullen Carroll said several Summit City artists records were sold. "There's a difference between being able to stream media on Spotify than to own it and support your artists," Carroll said. "I'd wager to say the majority of records we do sell are local or small artists that support the local communities ... I think it's really important for people to go out and purchase that music and to support their artists." Customers check out at Welcome Back Records. Old and new records were in stock at Wooden Nickle. Wooden Nickle saw about 500 people walk through it's Anthony Boulevard location. Agen said city record stores have a connection to the community that Spotify and other streaming services cannot parallel. He said people come in person to look through music and strike up a dialogue, creating connections. To him, a city with thriving record stores "is a healthy city." ...read more read less