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Martin Koppel opened his first record shop on Queen Street East in 1976 and has been selling records in Toronto ever since, 50 years this year.
Fifty years on, Kops is Toronto’s oldest record store. The shop has moved a few times along Queen Street over the decades, settling at 395 Queen Street West in 2020, and our Danforth store brings the same crates of new releases, vintage finds and Kollectibles to the east end.
That first shop has grown into two Toronto locations, on Queen Street West and on the Danforth, so there's always a Kops Records within reach.
Come shop our 40,000+ individual vinyl titles, sit in on an in-store show, check our Discogs page for some of our weirdest, rarest, and wonderfulest stuff, and stay up to date with everything Kops on our Facebook page and our Instagram. With a dedicated team working to bring you quality listening, you'll feel at home and part of the Kops family in either of our shops.
Martin Koppel (nicknamed "the Kop" in Grammar School) sold his first record back in 1965 when the entire town of Goole, England (population 4,000 people and some sheep) had their collective minds blown by the fact that he had a copy of "Candy" by the Astors on Blue Stax (which they had never seen), and for the rest of the year he was the most popular teenager in all of North-Eastern Yorkshire, East of the River Ouse.
In 1970, Leeds lost the FA Cup and Harold Wilson lost the election, and Martin decided England had nothing left to offer. He packed up his records, got on a boat and didn’t stop until he reached Toronto.
In 1976 he opened his first shop on Queen Street East. It was small, and it might still be there if someone hadn’t stolen his clothes out of the washing machine at the laundromat down the street. Martin took that as a sign and moved the shop. Kops has been shuffling along Queen Street ever since, landing at 395 Queen Street West in 2020.
Along the way there was a Bloor Street shop (2013–2018) and an Oshawa store (2017–2026). Today you’ll find us on Queen West and on the Danforth.
Over the years, plenty of famous faces have flipped through our crates. A few favourites:
