Fred’s Bar and Vinyl in Old Fox Yard, Stowmarket, welcomes first customers
A new bar combining locally-sourced beers and vinyl records has officially opened in a Suffolk town.
Fred’s Bar and Vinyl in the Old Fox Yard, Stowmarket, has welcomed its first customers today following a successful soft launch over the weekend.
The bar is run by couple Fred Walters, 24, and Caitlin McKie, 22, from Stowmarket and Mendlesham, who are aiming to offer something unique to the town.
Fred, who previously worked at the Gladstone Arms, said: “We’re really excited to be officially open, it feels great.
“The soft opening on Sunday was such a lovely introduction for us and we can’t wait to meet more customers in these first few days.
“I’ve worked in bars for years and I’m really passionate about craft beer as well as music, so merging those two things together was a no-brainer, really.”
The venue was previously Pallet Bar which temporarily closed while renovations were made to transform it into Fred’s Bar and Vinyl.
Customers can browse and purchase records while enjoying a drink, with the bar's turntable constantly spinning, often playing selections from Fred and Caitlin’s personal favourite LPs.
The records are supplied by local traders and sold on their behalf, with plans to expand the collection in the future.
The bar’s interior also embraces the music theme, featuring an 'NME Wall' created from Fred’s uncle’s collection of hundreds of vintage magazines which had been stored in a suitcase in the loft.
Caitlin said: “We had a lot of help getting the bar to how it looks now and we’re really happy with how it turned out.
“The NME Wall is definitely my favourite part — its great to see them on display for everyone to see.
“We didn’t want to just take on Pallet Bar, we wanted to really take over and make it our own by selling good music and good beer.
“I’ve never really worked behind a bar before, but I’m so excited to get going with everything.”
Fred’s Bar and Vinyl offers local beers, wine as well hot drinks and the couple plan to expand their range of records and local brews, with current draughts supplied by Burntmill Brewery in Badley.
The bar is open Wednesday to Sunday from 12pm and to stay up to date with the bar, you can follow the pages on Instagram and Facebook.
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