Harlingen: Frank’s Collection Record Shop

Tony Ramirez bought his first record as a twelve-year-old paperboy in the late 1950s. It was a 45 — “Big John,” for 39 cents, because he couldn’t afford the full-length albums. He’s been buying records ever since.

After five decades of collecting and a career teaching English at UT Brownsville, Texas A&I Kingsville, and South Texas College, Ramirez retired to do what he’d always done anyway: surround himself with music. He and his wife June purchased the old Palm Hotel in downtown Harlingen, converted the ground floor into an antique shop and record store, moved upstairs, and opened Frank’s Collection. The name honors his brother Frank, who died in a car accident in 1983.

“A CD is perfection,” Ramirez has said. “A record is used, scratched, and it takes you back to the club and back to the concert — because bands, musicians, they don’t play perfectly. A CD is pristine, but there’s nothing pristine in music.”

The Store

Frank’s Collection lives in the back of The Antique & Artisans Emporium at 123 E. Jackson Ave. Finding it feels like tracking down a secret track on a classic album — you know it’s there if you go looking. The crates and shelves hold more than 5,000 records in every genre, organized alphabetically and priced from $5 up. The walls carry posters of Jim Morrison, The Beatles, and Elvis.

Ramirez runs an open-door shop. Bring in your own records to sell or spin on the store turntable. He’ll tell you about the week after Michael Jackson died, when he sold more than 100 MJ albums. He’ll mention the $800 Marvin Gaye record that hit the floor. He’ll talk about cover art, and what Andy Warhol’s banana meant to the Velvet Underground.

“I can’t compete with volume,” he says. “But I can compete with personality.”

Plan Your Visit

Frank’s Collection is at 123 E. Jackson Ave., inside The Antique & Artisans Emporium in downtown Harlingen. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Call (956) 423-4041.

Heading west into the Valley? Pharr Out Records in Pharr specializes in the Tejano and norteño records that tell the region’s deepest musical story.

I’ve been here ♪