Since its February 1980 founding in Encinitas's Cardiff-by-the-Sea district, Lou's Records has grown into one of the largest independent record stores in San Diego County, now occupying its third location at 434 North Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas's Leucadia district. The store stocks new and used vinyl, CDs, DVDs, cassettes, turntables, and accessories, anchoring the same stretch of the 101 where North County's live-music culture spills out of craft taprooms like Culture Brewing. In-store performances and signings have drawn acts ranging from Mazzy Star to Jack Johnson, whose 2001–2005 concert series at the shop grew from a small corner set to an estimated 3,500 attendees filling the surrounding parking lots. The vinyl section carries everything from 180-gram audiophile represses to deep-cut used bins, and Lou's participates annually in Record Store Day — the global independent-shop event that also drives foot traffic to board-culture neighbors like Hansen Surfboards farther up the Leucadia 101 corridor. Inventory spans rock, jazz, soul, hip-hop, electronic, and Latin genres across an estimated 20,000-plus SKU catalog organized in floor-to-ceiling shelving that requires bin-diving to surface the store's deepest used-section finds.