News for those who live, work and play in North Santiam Canyon

Family affair – Couple opens Tuff Shark Records in Stayton

Down Third Avenue almost to the river is a new oasis of Stayton-area culture.

Jared and Jeannine Campos have opened Tuff Shark Records, and it’s clearly a labor of love.

The longtime Beatles fans (they met in a Beatles chat room and their 14-year-old son is named Lennon) occupy what used to be an old hardware store. The hardwood floors squeak, and the couple even kept the Santiam Hardware and Implement Co. thermometer on one of the walls of the 1,500 square foot building. And these are busy walls with busy shelves and bins: posters, other art, books, toys and tons of vinyl.

“We wanted to be about more than just vinyl,” Jared said. “Some people come in and don’t even look at records.”

The store is spacious and inviting with a long, narrow bin running up the center. There almost is room for a band to play. The Campos’ go beyond “almost.” They have a dream of finding bands and booking shows in the store and even starting a record label.

Open since June, the store is open from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and from noon to 7:30 on Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Both owners work full-time, Jeannine as an administrative assistant and Jared as a locksmith.

In fact it was a COVID-induced crash in the locksmith market that led the family to move to the Stayton area a couple of years ago from the San Diego area. They have family in the area and they also like the trees up here.

“We’ve been very blessed,” Jeannine said. ”A lot of people in the community donated records.”

“We’ll take a look and say we’re going to buy them,” adds Jared of some inventory, “but instead they donate because they want us to succeed.”

The store model is to keep prices low and not really to get into the collectibles market.

“Even if something is in high demand,” Jared says, “we won’t be jacking up prices. We don’t do that. We want our records to go to a good home.”

The store includes five $1 bins, offering testimony to the low-price policy, Jared is known to have a little fun with the dollar bins.

“I like to find something that is definitely worth more than a dollar and put it in there,” he said. 

While in the San Diego area Jared and Jeannine played in a four-person alternative rock band called the Desolate Angels, with Jeannine on vocals and Jared on guitar. Despite their love for classic rock acts such as the Beatles the couple also try to support lower-visibility groups and independent bands. They like to feature the music of such bands on the in-store stereo.

“It’s fun,” Jared says, “to put something on in the store in hopes of attracting customers to bands who don’t get a lot of attention.”

The store also offers guitar lessons on Tuesdays (email [email protected] to get more information).

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