For Mike Ramirez, there’s nothing better than dropping a needle in the groove of a record.

“That’s what makes the magic happen,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about. For me, it’s magic. It’s always been magic.”

Ramirez recently opened Needle ‘N Groove Records at 17 Jefferson St. in downtown Oswego, directly across the street from the Oswego Public Library.

The store had a soft opening on June 7, which was opening day of the Oswegoland Park District’s Oswego Country Market in downtown Oswego.

He was happy by the number of people who walked into the store that day. “We had a ton of people,” Ramirez said. “I had no idea what to expect.”

Among those visiting the store that day was Tom Sharpe, the drummer for Grammy award-winning group Mannheim Steamroller who lives in Oswego. Sharpe also is a worship musician and leader at Oswego Presebyterian Church.

“It was nice to have him come in the store,” said Ramirez, who is a fan of the band.

Ramirez sees the advantage of the store being located directly across the street from the Oswego Public Library.

“If people are into physical books, they might be into physical music,” Ramirez said.

The 48-year-old Ramirez is very familiar with Oswego. He was a resident for 15 years before moving to Yorkville in 2019.

Opening a record store has been a dream of his since he was a kid. Growing up in Naperville, he would shop at the now closed Crow’s Nest record store.

“It was like my favorite place,” Ramirez said. “I found music that changed my life there. I would see the album covers at Crow’s Nest and I would just buy things because I liked the cover.”

He has been listening to records since he was a kid. As a youngster, he owned a Fisher-Price record player.

“I would watch the Disney picture discs spin and get hypnotized by them,” Ramirez said. “It’s like a nostalgia thing for me. Records never went away for me. I stream music too, but there’s something very much lost in music discovery through streaming. It just doesn’t have the same enjoyment.”

Needle ‘N Groove Records sells both new and used records. Ramirez knows why there is such demand for vintage vinyl.

“It was stuff that was mastered for vinyl,” he said. “And it’s not just mastered for vinyl, it’s recorded for vinyl. It just sounds pure and real.”

Needle ‘N Groove Records will sell records that you are not likely to find at big-box stores.

“It’s not going to be the stuff that you’re going to walk into a big-box store and find,” Ramirez said. “But it will be stuff that you know.”

The store’s website promotes the record store as “specializing in new and hard-to-find vinyl only. Curating a heavy focus on imports and rare domestic pressings across all rock genres – from metal and prog to hard rock, classics and pop."

The Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the store from noon to 1 p.m. June 26. More information about Needle ‘N Groove Records is at its website, needlengroove.com.