At a time in which streaming is inflicting irreparable harm on the music and film industries, the Milwaukee area is blessed to have an abundance of great independent record stores and video retailers helping to preserve and celebrate physical media. This weekend, the region will welcome another business specializing in selling new and used music, films, and books—while also giving locals a place to play pinball—when Cosmic Sounds officially opens to the public.
The store, which is located at 7415 W. Becher St. in West Allis, will have its grand opening on Saturday, May 30. The new venture is owned and operated by Zachary Reno, who has worked in record stores since 1996. Most recently, Reno served as the buyer/manager at Portland, Oregon-based Music Millennium, where he worked for almost 20 years.
“I wore a lot of hats there and learned a ton, but eventually you get to a point where you want to stock different things and do things your own way,” Reno says. “So I decided it was time to do my own thing.”
After reconnecting with some family that lived in Wisconsin “some years back,” Reno made the decision to move to the Milwaukee area to open his own store. He spent months looking into possible locations before finally signing a lease to take over the Becher St. property late last year.
Reno says his musical tastes “have gone through every phase imaginable over the years.” At the moment, jazz from all eras and the thrash and death metal subgenres are “huge loves” of his, but many types of music will be represented in the Cosmic Sounds inventory.
“The store is very much an all-genre shop and it’s a mix of new and used. There’s probably a lean toward more esoteric stuff overall, but it’s intentionally accessible. It doesn’t feel exclusionary or overly niche,” Reno says. “I want people to walk in and find something they connect with, whether they’re into classic rock, jazz, country, punk, metal, soul, rap, electronic music, weird private press records, whatever.”
Above all else, Reno aspires to stock the shelves at Cosmic Sounds with records people will connect to, be it mainstream titles, obscurities, or anything in between. Through continually cycling in different records from distributors and buying used items at competitive prices with the aim of keeping albums “circulating within the community they came from rather than immediately disappearing online forever,” you’ll never quite know what to expect when browsing Cosmic Sounds.
“I just want to make a place that feels personal and discovery-driven,” Reno says. “Somewhere people can spend time and stumble onto things they didn’t know they were looking for.”
Reno is also devoting floor space in the store to another one of his passions: pinball. With the help of his brother, who runs Home Game Room Supply in Raymond, Wisconsin, Reno plans to always have a rotating selection of five playable pinball machines in Cosmic Sounds. Some machines will also be for sale. Reno says he plans to host tournaments and other pinball-focused events “down the line.”
Outside of the realms of music and pinball, Cosmic Sounds will sell apparel from “small independent printers,” as well as a small collection of books about musicians or other music-related themes. The store will also stock a wide range of physical film media.
“There’ll be tapes, VHS, Blu-ray, and genre film in general—horror, thrillers, cult cinema, exploitation, weird stuff,” Reno says. “For Blu-ray, there are labels like Vinegar Syndrome, Severin, and Scream Factory. The VHS selection is pretty decent, too, though I have a feeling those won’t last long.”
Cosmic Sounds is the latest business to open in West Allis, a misunderstood industrial Milwaukee suburb that’s experiencing an undeniable resurgence in recent years. Reno says he felt an instant connection to West Allis during his early visits, prompting him to focus his Cosmic Sounds sights squarely on the city.
“It has a very neighborhood feel to it in the best way. There’s an awesome mix of different cultures, businesses, and people all packed together, and you can really feel that there’s a push to make something bigger happen out here while still keeping it rooted in meaning and community,” Reno says. “Between the farmers market, the shops, the food, and just the people in general, it simply feels good to be here.”
Cosmic Sounds will celebrate its grand opening Saturday, May 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. After that, the initial hours of operation will be 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, and closed Monday and Tuesday. For more information, go to Cosmic Sounds’ website or follow the store on Instagram.
