Beverly Records' Limited Run T Shirt Tradition Lives on Like Vinyl for Record Store Day Saturday, April 18

A custom-made T-shirt is so much more than the cloth it’s made from.

Emblazoned with a 16-inch softball championship or a Frank Zappa concert, the modern-day T-shirt always extends beyond its useful life because of its memories and that sense of celebrating with others.

That’s what makes the Beverly Records annual T-shirt this coming Record Store Day April 18 so extraordinary – it’s all-inclusive spirit and all-encompassing list printed on this year’s model.

Record Store Day T Lives on Like Vinyl at Beverly Records

As the long-standing leader of surviving small business record stores in Chicago, Beverly Records has “forever and a day” joined together with its competition for the greater good of vinyl.

Simple – yet so cool - in its approach, John Dreznes has fashioned a T with Chicago’s CTA grid populated with the remarkable names of Chicago record stores of yesteryear, as well as the ones still standing strong today and gearing up for crowds for Record Store Day 2026.

“We all leaned on each other over the years to survive,” said owner Jack Dreznes. “Surviving meant getting the hard-to-find vinyl into the hands of the customer, whether it was from our store or Hegewisch Records southeast or Reckless northwest.”

Beverly Records’ inspirational T will go on sale with other limited runs Saturday, April 18.Vinyl enthusiasts queue up before midnight on the eve of Record Store Day to secure rare releases when the doors open at 8 a.m.Many are sporting aged T-shirts – faded and cherished.

Some years back an enterprising father recruited his pre-teen sons to join him in line, plying “my two crate diggers” with doughnuts and chocolate mile.

“My wife is out of town,” said dad. “These two know what I’m looking for.”

John Dreznes has created and conceptualized the RSD T-shirts for 15 years, all or which were released in a limited run and gobbled up by most ardent of Beverly Record Store customers.

“Something about seeing them all around the neighborhood on people of all ages captures the essence of our connection to our community and beyond over the years,” said Jack Dreznes.

Beverly Records claims a vinyl collection in the hundreds of thousands of records.The store will be jammed Saturday with artists, collectors, guest musicians and a band outside (weather permitting). The bins are lined with records and crates stacked on with hidden gems, all packed to please.

In 1967, the previous owners opened a novelty shop, but after constant record donations from family, friends and neighbors, they decided to convert the space into a record store, “and that's how it began,” Jack Dreznes said.

“We're probably one of the few that survived out South here,” he added.

“We go out of our way to find the 'hard to find' music, and those people that come in refer us to [their] friends and relatives.”

The store also boasts a classic collection of 45s, many from the "golden era" of rock and roll, which brings in the occasional soul legend where music royalty can be found in many a bin.

Such was the case when the original “Iceman” Jerry Butler, 85, died February 20, 2025 in his hometown of Chicago, where he served as a Cook County Commissioner from 1985 to 2018.

The CBS, Ch. 2 crews arrived at Beverly Records to gather up long players and 45’s from Butler’s days as the front man for The Impressions, long before anyone ever heard of George Gervin, his finger roll or a quarterback named Caleb Williams, still an aspiring iceman.

For more information visit: www.BeverlyRecords.com