Welcome to The Happy Singer Podcast! Think this is one of my favorite episodes so far. Meet our guest for this week:
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Stephen Gritzan is the founder of Iris Records, a multi-faceted music business that has been serving up vinyl & compact discs to the New York area since the summer of 1996. Stephen attended American University in Washington DC, majoring in communications/economics and graduating in 1982. After briefly writing for NBC Radio, he joined the wild world of Wall Street, working for Merrill Lynch for 8 years in the turbulent late 80s. After being spit out of that profession with not much more than his records in tow, Gritzan started his retail vinyl shop, Iris Records on Brunswick Street in Jersey City, initially being open just one day a week (Friday, for the curious). Time flew by! 25 years later, he closed the original Iris Records on February 16th, 2019 to great fanfare. "Le Petit Iris" opened across the street from the original shop a few months later and is back to being open just one day a week (yes, Friday, 2-7 PM) Iris sells outdoors around 100 times a year: in Jersey City, at street fairs in Manhattan & Brooklyn, at the Upper West Side's Grand Bazaar NYC many Sundays during the year. His company Record Riots also hosts popular collectible record shows in 8 different markets several times a year, including New Haven CT, Albany NY, and Jersey City (of course). Gritzan hails from Roselle Park, NJ. His mother Tamara was one of New Jersey's Teachers Of The Year in 1985. Stephen's other passions include writing, his girlfriend Genevieve in Montreal, swimming laps and rooting against the New York Mets on the radio. He turns 60 in January and can't wait. The Iris website is www.irisrecordsjc.com and features pertinent information about the company's doings all year long. Keep in touch!
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Make sure to follow Iris on Instagram as well! @irisrecords
Thank you so much for listening and I hope to hear from you on our "The Happy Singer Discussion Group" on FB!
K :)
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