A Folsom vinyl records and CDs store is opening its second location in mid-October.
Fat Elephant Records, Books & Music is moving into the Folsom Outlet Stores at 1300 Folsom Blvd. on Oct. 16, the store’s owner told The Sacramento Bee.
The shop will mostly sell pre-owned CDs and records, with some new releases, but overall, the focus will be on vintage albums. The location will sell leftover inventory from The Beat, a much-loved independent record store that closed in 2013 after 30 years in business.
Vinyl records will be priced between $3 and $10, depending on rarity, according to the store’s owner. This reflects the affordable prices of the outlet center, he explained.
Charles Lago became owner of Fat Elephants Records by chance. He was more of a movie guy, he said, working in the video department for the city of Rancho Cordova.
Then a friend came to him asking for help. His friend’s father ha died, leaving behind tens of thousands of vinyl records and CDs dating back to the 1920s.
The music went into storage and was pretty much forgotten until Lago read an article in 2024 about the resurgence of vinyl.
“A space became available in Rancho Cordova, and we took it. That was our first store,” Lago said. “…we put all the records in there; we merchandised them. It looked really good.”
As the store became busier and the task of managing it grew, Lago decided to relocate to the Folsom Historic District. Business “exploded” in 2025, Lago said, and he brought in live music acts. Live performances will be part of the outlet location as well with four performances scheduled for November.
Fat Elephant will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.