By AIDAN CAHILL

Pawtuxet Village will gain a new shop this week. Inside Lucy Juicy, just on the Cranston side of the river on Broad Street, sits Doomed Records, a shop opening Sunday, April 10.

Eric Browning, a Scituate resident, is trying his hand at running a local record store. His shop, while mostly hard metal oriented, has many genres of records there, from indie, to rock and everything in between. While most of the new records are metal, his pre-owned collection is far more varied, from Miles Davis to the Rolling Stones. The shop includes a thrift section, with a five-for-ten-dollar deal, which, according to Browning, is perfect for someone to find something they may not have considered listening to otherwise.

According to Browning, setting up the shop was, “time consuming but not complex… the City Hall in Cranston made it easy.” His shop is in a unique position, being inside of a vegan smoothie shop, but this was also to his benefit. Knowing the owners of Lucy Juicy allowed him to get the space to open the place. The unique position also has the benefit of creating a symbiotic relationship between the two businesses, potentially drawing customers from non-traditional demographics to each.

He has always been a fan of records and physical mediums of music, with two of his favorite shops being Armageddon Shop in Providence and Purchase Street Records in New Bedford. Each shop has its own genre focus, so the shops are able to coexist more than compete.

Browning hopes his shop can become a place people throughout New England come to visit, with the likes of Purchase Street and Armageddon. While to some, this many locally-owned record shops in such a small area may seem like a lot, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, vinyl records are outselling CDs once again -- for the first time since the 1980s. The draw people have to records can be debated, with many arguing it has better sound quality, but Browning has another idea. He argues that it is a positive disconnect with the digital world most music is consumed through nowadays. As well, having to physically flip or change the record every fifteen minutes means people are more likely to truly listen to their music. While there is debate about improved sound quality provided by vinyl, having the physical record is always a positive.

Browning grew up in Warwick, before spending some time in Massachusetts, and eventually moving to Scituate. This shop is his first, having worked full-time until early this year. While shelves are still being stocked, the store will have its grand opening on Sunday at noon. From then, Pawtuxet Village will finally host a record store.