Record store with focus on Kansas City music closes. Local label will continue
Kansas City record store Manor Records is closed — but owner Shaun Crowley said his goal to help local artists isn’t ending, just shifting.
While the storefront at 5540 Troost Ave. is no more, the nonprofit record label will continue to operate. His organization’s vision is to allow local musicians to reach audiences cost-free.
Crowley said a new, five-person board for Manor Records is refining its next steps.
“It’s a lot of reorganization right now,” he said. “We’re writing every role for every part of the operations, every top of the board.”
The vision for the record store was to allow Crowley to have a space to work out of, and make a little money, while running the record label.
“We do a lot, and that’s actually part of the reason why we’re letting the record store go,” Crowley said. “It’s been too much.”
In addition to running the record label, Manor records hosts events, including DIY music festival Manor Fest each year. Its rolling records store pop-ups will continue to make appearances in the metro.
Sales at the store were also slower than Crowley would have liked. He said he felt like he was simply spinning his wheels and decided to let the storefront go.
“It’s really hard to get people to support local music financially,” he said. “That’s what I get to figure out, though.”
Manor Records has been around since 2017 and has released more than 30 full-length physical albums. Its cafe and record store in Strawberry Hill opened in 2022 but closed in 2023, then moved into a space in the West Bottoms.
In 2024, it moved to its spot on Troost Avenue.
Nearby, Willa’s Books & Vinyl at 5547 Troost Ave. is also undergoing some changes.
It will no longer be a bookstore, and The Kansas City Defender, a Black community organization, is taking over the space. Willa’s will become a community space and public archive, retaining many of Willa’s rare books from Black authors.