New Hong Kong vinyl store, The Pharmacy, puts records back in the groove
The shop, which is located within entrepreneur Maguelone Calmels’ lifestyle store Mahka, offers both old and new titles and hopes to create a community of audiophiles in the city
“A record a day keeps the doctor away.” So goes the mantra of Maguelone Calmels, owner of The Pharmacy, a new record repository in Sheung Wan. Lodged within lifestyle store Mahka, boxes of limited-release European electronica, disco, funk, house, techno and hip hop records invite vinyl addicts to spend an hour flipping through to find their next favourite sound.
When Mahka founder Calmels introduced vinyl records alongside her shop’s fashion and design lines last year, she was surprised by their popularity and decided to make them a permanent fixture.
In 2017, Mahka launched Fauve Radio, an internet radio station beaming out from the back of the shop that has become renowned among local music lovers for its obscure beats and rotating line-up of Hong Kong’s sharpest DJ talent. With The Pharmacy, Calmels hopes to create a community of audiophiles by offering trade-ins on old vinyl alongside new titles shipped in from independent European distributors.
“I’m passionate about music and always wanted to do my own project and bring artists together, but in Hong Kong it can be hard to find a community. We wanted it to be something we could share,” the 31-year-old French-born entrepreneur says.
In a quirky twist, each record sleeve has a “Directions” label prescribing its use, such as a collection of Norwegian house to be taken “five times a day”, and a deep-techno LP that bears the instructions “apply to dark club to go even deeper”. Record paraphernalia is referred to as “medical equipment”.
The Pharmacy’s name and branding was devised by DJ Romain Faipoux (aka Romain FX), who has spent the past 10 years spinning at high-end clubs.
“As soon as we came up with the name, everything fell into place,” says Faipoux, 28. “If The Pharmacy does well, we’ll open a record label and push the Asian scene as much as we can.”
Let music be thy medicine.
