A BELOVED record shop popular with famous faces including Donny Osmond is set to close.

The owner, Adrian Rondeau, is preparing to retire after more than 50 years’ dedication.

Mr Rondeau, 75, has confirmed his shop in Wickford High Street will close “shortly after the new year” after decades of success.

His business, Adrian’s Records, has been selling videos, CDs, DVDs and vinyl records in the town since 1969.

He also welcomed the likes of Donny Osmond and McFly to his business for visits over the years.

Mr Rondeau, who starred in theatre shows with the likes of David Essex, said he’s looking forward to some time off.

He said: “Since the announcement, the shop’s been incredibly busy with people coming from all over the country. I will be sorry in a way to see it go and I will miss it, but I wouldn’t want anyone else to run it under the same name and it will not be the same standard.

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“I have a large collection of records myself so will spend time listening to them and just take it easy.

One of the main reasons for shutting it down is my age and I’ve been doing it a long time.

Echo:

“It’s been a lot of work and I had to be there all the time. You can’t go on for ever.”

The business owner won the Retailer of the Year Award many times and was later handed a lifetime achievement award recognising his work selling videos and records.

He opened the first shop selling videos in the country in 1987 and said some were sceptical about the success of the shop.

Reminiscing about the famous faces who have come to the shop, Mr Rondeau added: “Donny Osmond was a great guy and told me he’d heard about the shop and wanted to see me.

“We sat and chatted and then he came back for a meet-and-greet session with customers. Both his visits were in the Eighties. We also had McFly in 2005 and Danny from the band pulled down his trousers and mooned from a window, which only drove the crowds even more wild.”

He added that he has had countless messages from former staff and supporters about the business and said he’s been quite “overwhelmed”.