Salina Company Acquires 13 Vintage Record Presses

A Salina company that already presses about a million vinyl records a year has acquired 13 vintage presses that the owner says will double production. The Salina Journal reports Chad Kassem, owner of Quality Record Pressings, says he found the presses in Chicago and persuaded the long-time owner to sell them. "People all over the world are freaking out, trying to locate presses anywhere," Kassem said. About 9.2 million vinyl albums were sold in the United States last year, up from 6.1 million in 2013, according to Nielsen Music. Kassem recently expanded his plant to three shifts and still can't keep up with the increasing demand for vinyl records, estimating his order backlog is three to four months. The presses, which are from three different manufacturers, will take some time to restore. The machines were made in the late 1960s and early 1970s and had last been used in the mid-1990s to press "bootleg" records for sale in India. The previous owner, Joell Hays, bought them in the early