Nestled in Kirksville is a piece of musical and cultural heritage: Rinehart’s Music & Video, the oldest record store in America and second oldest in the world. The store is no relic of the past, however. It remains a vibrant and thriving part of the community. While Rinehart Music was founded in 1897, its history starts in 1861 with William Sholly’s founding of the Kirksville News Agency, a newswire service that later merged with Rupert Rinehart’s News Stand to become the Rinehart’s News Agency. Three decades later, Rupert’s brother, Edwin S. Rinehart, founded Rinehart Music, and the two businesses sat side by side on Franklin Street.
In 1930, the two businesses were merged. It was run by the Rinehart family until 2000 when Rupert’s daughter, Mabel, transferred it to Dr. Karl Hildebrand, also a family member, who is the present owner of the store. In 2007, the business was renamed Rinehart’s Music & Video. Today, Karl maintains the store’s relevance by selling all formats of music and movies. At any one time, the store might hold 20,000 record titles, 4,000 CDs, and 4,000 movie titles. The store also sells video games, old-school gaming consoles, and related gaming print media, along with pop collectibles such as collector plates, action figures, and posters.
Despite today’s digital age, the shop remains dedicated to selling physical items. “Digital media may be convenient and is definitely useful, but you only get to rent it, and it can disappear at any time,” Karl says. “The customer owns nothing. They just have a license to access the material for a while.” Karl takes pride in the store, which avoids fads and instead sells rare and unique curated items. “Our whole business is centered around carrying the uncommon,” Karl says. “We like to say we are the only business for 100 miles that does what we do. People are always looking for a certain movie, a certain brand, a certain franchise. We are betting on you being able to find it here.”
Many of its offerings are rare and vintage, like unscratched and unopened decades-old action figures and records in pristine jackets. Examples include an Alpha Black Lotus trading card from Magic: The Gathering (the same card just sold through an online auction for $3 million) and a Beatles’ Yesterday and Today album with a second-state butcher cover (a cover pasted over the original that was considered offensive of the Beatles wearing white butcher coats and propped with raw meats and decapitated dolls). Customer service is also an integral part of Rinehart’s operations. “We are perfectly happy to take time with the customer. Often, a line or misremembered title is the clue,” Karl says. “We can often find what they are looking for.”
Rinehart’s Music & Video also buys and trades items. Over the decades, some unique items have passed through the shop, like 400-year-old books and a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth. Karl says, “Every day is like Christmas, you never know what will come through the front door or who you might meet.” Running this business comes with challenges, such as finding quality inventory that warrants the costs of acquisition, storage, and marketing, Karl says. But it has its rewards too. In 2016, Rinehart’s Music & Video received recognition from the Missouri House of Representatives in the form of a bill acknowledging its long-standing service, historical significance, and continued contributions to the community and state. It remains a beloved institution of Missouri.
This article originally appeared in the September 2024 edition of Missouri Life.
