Taylorsville • Inside Graywhale, there are stacks of CDs and rows upon rows of vinyl records. There is always something spinning.

And, after 40 years as a physical media haven, there is always a story to tell.

To celebrate the anniversary, co-owners Dustin Hansen and Zane Pendleton are hosting a video series — 40 for 40 — featuring stories from employees and customers who have formed friendships, connections, and lifelong memories through the store.

One man waits outside the store every year with a group of friends on Record Store Day. Another woman has met all her friends from working at the store. Someone stumbled upon a record they thought they’d never find, while another person found a rare book he had searched for from coast to coast.

“We don’t exist without those people,” Hansen said.

Conducting the interviews has shown the co-owners that the mark their business has left on community members often comes from the small moments: like the normal conversations in their shop or regulars coming in every week, even if they aren’t buying anything.

Those are “the roots of Graywhale,” Hansen said. “You either worked here, know someone that worked here, you shopped here. You have an old Killer Whale card from back in the day you haven’t used in a long time.”

That’s why the anniversary celebration is focused on the community.

“We consider ourselves more like stewards of something that’s been in the community for a long time and will presumably exist for a long time to come,” Pendleton said.

40 years of stories

Steve Gray first opened Graywhale in 1986. It started with one location where people could buy, sell or trade CDs. As the market grew, Graywhale locations popped up across the state, from Ogden to Cedar City. At its peak, the business had 10 locations.

Hansen has been with the company for 20 years and took over in 2020 to prevent the store from closing entirely. Pendleton started working at Graywhale in 2007 and later joined Hansen as a business partner.

Because of its longevity, many people have built a personal connection to the company.

Jeff Hadfield’s first experience with Graywhale was in 1988, when he was an employee. He describes record stores as a “mecca” of third spaces.

“Even though there’s a reputation [that] record store clerks may be surly, that is never the case at Graywhale,” Hadfield said.

And he said that’s a credit to the community the store has built over the years.

“They set a very inclusive vibe,” he said, “meaning whatever kind of music you like, we’re here for you, and we support you in loving what you love.”

Just about everything can be found at Graywhale — pop records and deep-cut CDs, nostalgic movies and well-loved books.

The inclusive vibe is one that Hadfield is still a part of. Once a month, he plays a DJ set at the store.

Hadfield’s daughter, Ella, now works at the store. She remembers visiting the Sandy location, which was just down the street from her childhood home, once a week with her dad.

“It was my favorite activity,” she said.

Aside from being a welcoming place for customers to buy their physical media of choice, Graywhale has also hosted live shows and regularly hosts listening parties for new album releases.

Recently, they hosted one for the new Harry Styles album.

The store also prides itself on being an inclusive space for all, welcoming the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups.

“The term, it’s thrown around so much nowadays, but safe space,” Hansen said. “The experience starts with us. It’s our culture. It’s our place.”

“Our biggest priorities here are accessibility and education,” Pendleton added.

‘Favorite place in the world’

Graywhale is one of Vern Waters’ favorite places in the world. Waters said what makes the store stand out is simple.

“The commitment to their customers, but also the safety and comfort of their customers,” he said. “When the whole Black Lives Matter thing was happening, the very first sign that I saw in the valley for Black Lives Matter was at Graywhale.”

Waters first visited the Riverdale location of Graywhale, near Weber State University, where he got his original Killer Whale membership card.

At that time, he had a mobile DJ business, which was mostly booked for weddings.

“I would get a list of songs that the brides wanted to play, and then Graywhale was great at helping me fill out lists,” Waters said.

Now, he’s in the shop a couple of times a week and knows all of the employees.

Pendleton hopes that anyone who comes to Graywhale — whether it’s for nostalgia purposes or to discover something new — can find a bit of relief from the outside world or whatever is causing them stress in their lives.

“In the best possible way, we’re doing a lot of the same things that we were doing 20 or 30 years ago,” he said. “There’s so many people that they’re craving something real more than anything, because everything’s fed to you via an algorithm, or it’s AI-generated. … When you come in here, it’s concrete. It’s tangible. It’s physical. It’s in your hands.”