When Lowell’s beloved hub Mill No. 5 shuttered this past February, one of its newest residents had only been in business for six months. ADamnShame Records joined the Mill’s wealth of vendors last July, stepping into the former Vinyl Destination storefront like a passing of the torch between two arbiters of Lowell’s cultural scene.
Now, in light of the Mill’s final days, ADamnShame Records owner Adam O’Donnell has teamed up with a different staple of downtown Lowell: Lala Books. The record shop has taken up temporary residence in the back of the Market Street bookstore, operating during Lala’s hours from Wednesday to Sunday. O’Donnell made the move official during Lowell’s annual Winterfest in February, and plans to remain there for the next few months.
O’Donnell was already acquainted with Lala’s owners when news spread about the Mill’s sudden closure. His fiancé works at Pizzelle Bakery, which operates within the same building as the bookstore — a building just so happens to be the property of Lala owners Greg and Laura Lamarre Anderson.
“I got a chance to get to know Laura and Greg and [their daughter] Thea through the process of setting up Pizzelle and becoming a fan of Lala Books and what they do for the community,” O’Donnell tells Vanyaland. “When word got out that Mill No. 5 would be closing down, Laura reached out immediately to see if there was anything they could do to help, including taking up residency at Lala Books.”
Much like ADamnShame was an ideal successor to Vinyl Destination, the shop’s new partnership with Lala Books is a natural fit, merging Lala’s wealth of books and paper goods with O’Donnell’s curated selection of hardcore, metal, punk, new wave, and hip-hop albums.
“What I really like about operating our of Lala is the ability to cross customer cliental between the two of us, because we think that physical media is very important to keep alive in a digital age, so we think similar minded customers would appreciate a store that features both literature and music to be able to bring home,” he adds.
O’Donnell’s plan is to run the business within Lala while the shop’s permanent home is under development just a few blocks away. Hive Public Market, which will be located within the Hildreth Building on Merrimack Street, is a new hub that will house many of the former Mill No. 5 shops, including Red Antler Apothecary, Hive and Forge, Sweet Pig Press, The Lowell Book Company, and Over the Spoon. O’Donnell estimates the new market will open around September.
“Getting the chance to establish ourselves at the Mill helped prepare me for being able to take this show on the road, and I’m very honored that customers have been willing to follow us as we take this crazy journey to our new home,” he concludes.