The Sharp Notes Record Store Opens in The Garden State Plaza Mall!

our Evan Toth opens it and hosted Grand Opening Saturday October 4th

Contributing writer Evan Toth opened The Sharp Notes record store in the sprawling Garden State Plaza shopping center last month and on Saturday, October 4th held a grand opening celebration. It's the first new record store in the mall in at least 30 years. That one was Coconuts back when there was Bananas (still there in St. Pete), Coconuts, Peaches, Strawberries, Licorice Pizza, and other fruit cocktail record stores.

The mall parking lots were filled so people are still going to the mall though many stores are boarded up and still others are now amusement and entertainment centers. Anchor stores Nordstrom and Neiman-Marcus are still there as are many other brand name chains—enough so traffic flows and Evan told me business has been steady since the opening. Not that Evan can be there all day every day since his day job is school principal.

When I arrived for the Grand Opening the store, on the main second floor, was pretty crowded, the demographic mixed and guitarist Ron Jackson's trio was playing while people ate snacks and browsed through the records.

Evan's wife and children were there as were other relatives. It was a chill family scene and everyone was super friendly. Though the space isn't large, it's big enough to hold plenty of new and carefully selected used records, many from Evan's eclectic collection, CDs and even 8 track tapes. He sells Spin Clean cleaning machines and Audio-Technica turntables.

There are two dressing rooms left over from the store's previous incarnation that Evan plans on turning into a listening room and a podcasting site.

I couldn't decide whose faces lit up more: the oldsters seeing a record store for the first time in decades, or the youngsters seeing a record store for the first time ever.

When Ron took a break I asked him how he ended up playing at The Sharp Notes. He said he'd walked by and saw the store and began talking with Evan. They worked out a deal and the trio played and the trio was great. I shot video but for now we can't easily post them. Ron had played with the great New Jersey native guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli among others and at one point he asked me if I knew who Bruce Thigpen was. I said "of course! I've known Bruce since the 1980s and I've owned his Eminent Technology speakers and ET tonearms.

"Oh, he makes hifi too? I didn't know that! I knew he made these thin guitar amps...". I responded well I knew the hi-fi but not the guitar amps. We took a selfie and I sent it to Bruce.

That's how the afternoon went. Stop into The Sharp Notes next time you're near The Garden State Plaza now a/k/a The Westfied mall! Good selection of used and new records.

I told Evan he should have a New Jersey section. He said he was planning on it. It would have records by Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, The Shirelles (formed in Passaic), Dionne Warwick, Ricky Nelson (yes!), Paul Simon (born in Newark), Bruce Springsteen, David and Eddie Brigati (The Young and then just The Rascals), Little Steven, Tim Bogert, David Cassidy (raised in South Orange), Debbie Harry (moved there at 3 months old), Ice-T, Kool & the Gang, Bon Jovi, The Four Seasons, the aforementioned Bucky Pizzerelli, Al Caiola, George Clinton, Whitney Houston, The Smithereens, SZA, Charlie Puth, The Jonas Brothers (I live next door to the church in which their father was pastor, and around the corner from their childhood house), Queen Latifah, My Chemical Romance, Jack Antonoff, Trey Anastasio (Phish), Titus Andronicus, Real Estate, Fetty Wap and of course The Beatles and The Rolling Stones (just checking to see if you actually read through the whole list).