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There’s plenty to take in when you enter B-Side Records & Vintage in downtown Milwaukie. Yes, most vintage shops have glass and cookware displays, but B-Side’s kaleidoscopic vase and rainbow-themed Pyrex features are exceptionally vibrant and thoughtful. The record section of the store to the left of the main entrance is chock-full of hard-to-find gems, such as the 10th anniversary reissue of The Magnolia Electric Co. by Jason Molina side project Songs: Ohia, a record I’ve been trying to track down on vinyl for the better part of a decade. One might fixate on the two shelves overflowing with Teddy Ruxpin toys. “We actually had a band play at The Riff [the shop’s performance space], and they asked to be paid in Teddy Ruxpins,” Jeff Paramchuk, who co-owns the space with wife Becca Stavenjord, says with a smile.
The next room over is bursting with furniture and décor that transitions perfectly into The Riff, an all-ages venue tucked in the back of the store. Cozy, mismatched seating abounds in a space that hosts everything from trivia to drag shows to touring bands.
Odds are, the spot most patrons plan on scoping out first isn’t a restroom. But skipping them would deprive you of the owners’ fully immersive, off-kilter sense of humor. There are two themed loos in the building: The “Shart Tank” has an underwater theme, while the “Litter Box” is a cat-themed apology to Milwaukie residents who fell hard for an April Fool’s joke on Instagram just ahead of B-Side’s opening on April 11 of this year.
Stavenjord explains, “On April 1, we announced B-Side’s cat cafe and listening lounge, where you can listen to your favorite tunes and hang out with cats named after rock stars. Everyone went nuts…they commented, they shared [the post]. I got text messages. People on our opening day would come in and say, ‘Where are the cats?’ I guess we should have just opened a cat cafe, because there’s a real vacuum of cat cuddles.”
Even without such snuggles, warmth emanates from the shelves at B-Side, and that’s also by design. Stavenjord, a former chief of staff for Multnomah County Commissioner Lori Stegmann and current city councilor in Milwaukie, has long been in the game of youth development and community programming. “After the 2016 election, and then after COVID, I saw so many third spaces going away, and there weren’t a lot of spaces for youth, for communities that experience marginalization, to come together,” she says.
To make sure the space would speak to a young demographic, Stavenjord and Paramchuk enlisted the help of their 15-year-old, Harper. A multi-instrumentalist, Harper actually serves as the sound engineer and was the first performer on the stage at The Riff. “Harper’s voice, that youth voice is really important through the entire store,” Stavenjord says. And with Milwaukie High School just a couple of blocks away, she adds, “We get many students here. They ravage the CD bins and go through the records. We make sure The Riff is open if they want to sit and read or do homework or something after school. We’ve expanded to have some refreshments. We want it to be a space that is welcoming and comfortable.”
Even if you’re not a youth, there’s sure to be something that speaks to you at B-Side, whether it’s based on a memory or a desire to reframe one. “Not everything ages well, right?” Stavenjord says as she fidgets with a ’90s-era My Little Pony. In contrast to the silly, lightheartedness of the aforementioned Ruxpins, “There’s that part of nostalgia that I think people need to revisit.”
This is why there’s a laminated sign next to a full rack of tall- and plus-size vintage clothing that explains the scarcity of these pieces in typical vintage stores (it’s well worth a read). It’s also why she and Paramchuk have a policy regarding racist relics, setting them aside for donation to museums, or for artists representing the cultures stereotyped if they wish to repurpose them.
Levity? Informal hangout? Education? Whatever experience you’re looking for in a vintage store, B-Side Records & Vintage can help you curate it, with warmth.
SHOP: B-Side Records & Vintage, 10801 SE Main St., Milwaukie, 971-206-8896, bsiderecordsvintage.com. 11 am–7 pm Tuesday–Sunday.
