DENVER — By any standard, Greg Daniels is a Denver music veteran. He’s been playing in bands since the mid-1990s, and has lately been reissuing albums from his past groups Glass Hits and Vaux on limited cassette runs, then selling them at his Drop To Pop Records and Curio, at 2185 N. Broadway in downtown Denver.

Despite its 88-square-foot footprint — and the fact that it’s only open Thursdays through Saturdays — he sees a steady stream of tourists, vinyl collectors and scenesters digging through his curated collection of vintage punk, indie rock, jazz and pop LPs.

As the only record store in the commercial core of downtown, he also sees music legends such as Billy Corgan (of Smashing Pumpkins) pop in for a look, thanks to online searches that balance out his lack of pedestrian traffic.

“I’m one of several record shops that have opened in Denver in the last three years or so, which is kind of shocking when you’re hearing about stores closing all over the nation,” said Daniels, 45, who works as a drywall contractor three days a week to support his “dream job” store, which opened in April 2023.

The United States had 2,031 record stores as of last year, according to research firm IBISWorld, or a decline of 3.7% from 2019. Despite fierce competition from streaming services, upscale record clubs such as Denver’s Vinyl Me, Please, and direct sales from record labels, Denver has been bucking that trend.

Independent shops, which used to be the bulwark against the corporatization of music retailing, now comprise the entirety of the brick-and-mortar industry.

But they’ve hung on, and others are growing.

Michael Baca, music manager at Black & Read in Arvada, Colorado, said store employees are still unpacking from a recent move that grew the store’s footprint from 9,000 square feet to more than 16,000.

That’s all to keep up with customer demand, including from 11-year-old girls looking for the latest Charli XCX or Taylor Swift release, Baca said. Black & Red also runs a discount annex that’s open only on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and offers records for as low as $1.

The longevity is notable for a business that opened in 1991, and that has ably taken advantage of the decadelong surge in vinyl sales and the turn toward physical media.

“Taylor Swift vinyl is always hot, but so is Metallica, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd,” Baca said. “We can’t keep any of those on the shelves.”

Like most, Black & Read also sells new and used CDs, movies, books, comics, toys, games and other merchandise that keeps its revenue diverse and stable.

“Things took a big jump in the pandemic, then tapered off a little bit, but (vinyl sales) are still growing,” said Pete Stidman, owner of Wax Trax, which opened in 1975 and remains Denver’s oldest record store.

Still, the Denver stores’ challenges are familiar to all small businesses: Steep rents, rising overhead and inventory, which prices many wholesale records at $20 to $25 before retailers can even stock them.

“I’ve started boycotting certain labels and distributors because $30 isn’t even that much for a record anymore,” said Dave Cleland, owner of Invincible Vinyl in Denver.