A passer -by walking through Kerkstraat in Vorstenbosch can just be surprised musically. It comes from the second -hand record store Blue Records by Frank Mulders. The store offers people with an intellectual disability a nice workplace. “By working here they are in the middle of society.” The summer series De Kerkstraat is today from Vorstenbosch.
A speaker outside the store soon betrays where the music comes from. Record boss Silke regularly encourages music to lure people to the store. “This time it is Mexico of Les Humphries Singers. I hope that people come in that. And in addition, playing music is a lot of fun to do.”
In addition to playing pictures, she also provides coffee for customers and sorts records in alphabetical order. “It’s a nice job to do. Being a bit autistic,” she says with a smile. “You are also busy with your hobby. There is nothing better than music and it is very nice here.”
At a distance, Frank proudly looks at how Silke is neatly sorting the plates. “It’s fantastic to see. Because of the work here they are in the middle of society. You see them grow. This makes me very happy.”
He has been running the store for a number of years, but it did very different work for that. “I drove a truck for thirty years. About ten years ago I retrained myself in healthcare. At one point this came my way. It was too good not to do. Especially if your heart and soul is in music and working with people.”
“It’s a record store, but people make it special,” he says. The foundation has the most important goal to create a pleasant and meaningful workplace. Care, pictures and talk is the motto. “We take care of that with this store. Plates and music are always cheerful.”
Not much later Frank is called by record boss Bram. He is busy with his weekly vlog for Facebook. “I now make one about an album from Rod Stewart. The blogs that I make are about different music genres, from classical to rock. I always look for a lot of information with every album and listen to the music.”
“That’s how I get some background information about the artist,” says the record boss. “I often don’t know them very well, because it’s not always my music genre. So you learn something from it and it’s fantastic to do. It’s a job that I enjoy going to.”
A little further on, a machine sounds in the meantime. This was just turned on by record boss Wilco. “I am washing the plates. These often come in with a lot of fabric. I put them in the machine and it cleans it. The sound is better if it has been in the wash.”
He also enjoys his work in the record store. “I am very busy with music and I am a fan of BZN. It is Dutch and I like that. Only not everyone is happy with that, because Frank doesn’t like it,” laughs Wilco. Frank responds to the joke with a wink. “We hope to be able to do this for a long time here in Vorstenbosch.”
Kerkstraat
There is a Kerkstraat in every municipality in Brabant. Brabanders live in that street with beautiful stories.
Together with the DTV Nieuws, Zuidwest TV, Studio040 and Omroep Tilburg, we will tell a special Brabander from Kerkstraat every day this week.