There's a new record store in town and it's a pretty great place owned by a friendly man. Also, I'm not gonna lie, it's very convenient for me as it is in my neighbourhood. Nivessa is located at 5770 W Pico Blvd, right next door to Paper Or Plastik, the hip Picfair café.
Jonathan Hedvat, Nivessa's owner, by Vincent Walter Jacob
I went to Nivessa's opening party and met Jonathan Hedvat, the owner. During the lockdown, Jonathan had to rethink his career and a New York media distributor, who's also a good friend, gave him a tip : "records are pretty hot again". That might sound unwise but it's actually not. At $1 billion in vinyl record sales, 2021 was the biggest year for vinyl since 1986, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Jonathan bought a first collection of 70 year old records in March 2020 and made his first sale. He sold one record for $50 and saw the potential.
"At first I had a few records in my dining room and then when my wife was getting a little bit crazy about the amount of vinyl in my house so I moved to a small office when I got two packs." Jonathan Hedvat
It wasn't long before Jonathan had so many records that he moved into a garage. But his landlord freaked out about the fast growing collection and Jonathan had to move again pretty quickly on a retail space on Pico. Why Pico? Well, Jonathan seems to trust people's opinion so when two different customers suggested it might be a good place, he decided to follow their advice. That's as simple as that.
Jonathan's collection is still growing and he currently owns about 25,000 records. Not bad in a 2 year span! I first visited the store about a month ago. I was looking for the perfect gift for my friend Billy Grazaidei's birthday. He's my friend but if you're a hardcore nerd, you might know he's also the founder of Brooklyn legendary band Biohazard (Billy has already between twice on our podcast if you want to catch up). I wanted to surprise him and I wasn't going to get him a copy of Agnostic Front or Madball... Way too predictable.
Billy Grazaidei, by Vincent Walter Jacob
I decided to get him a first pressing of The Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles. That might seem odd to you, but when he produced Feed The Moon, the debut album of my band Yard Of Blondes, he often turned to The Beatles and George Martin's tricks to add some magic to our songs. I was wondering how many of rare and valuable vinyl records Jonathan had in store but, actually, those treasures don't last long and that's why you need to come visit Nivessa once in a while because you never know what you could find:
"Believe it or not, the more rare the records, the faster they sell. That seems to be the trend over here. Right now we have an Alice Coltrane record that’s worth around $400 and some really good Nina Simone and Sam Hopkins original pressings, and rare post punk." Jonathan Hedvat
I went back to the store for the Opening party and I was amazed how quickly it already grew in a few weeks. More and more people are coming and more vinyl is delivered weekly so Jonathan already had to put a few walls down to get more space. That second time, I got myself a $3 dollar copy of a very cool Little Richard record. Because that's one of the perks at Nivessa, you can find some pretty cool records for a very decent price too. Also, Jonathan remembered my name on my second visit, and that's the first time in LA I felt I belonged to a local community.
- Vincent Walter Jacob
Nivessa, by Vincent Walter Jacob
Jonathan Hedvat, Nivessa's owner, by Vincent Walter Jacob
Jonathan Hedvat, Nivessa's owner, by Vincent Walter Jacob