On November 10, 1945, Lloyd Hinton–the owner of Clintonville Electric–opened the Tropicana Record Bar at 3361 North High. It was described as having “a continental atmosphere… with four recording rooms each complete with custom-built high-fidelity sound equipment.” Another description called it a “tropical motif with cabana style wall settings and palm trees completing an atmospheric layout” with 5 listening rooms. The store sold records and record players, and hosted music celebrities for signings and photo ops.

Unfortunately in September 1953, a raging fire destroyed the Tropicana Record Bar and the restaurant next door. It began in the basement and became an intense fire, “felling” 15 firemen (all of whom survived). Lloyd Hinton owned the record business and said his loss was estimated to be $5000 (several thousand records). The owner of the buildings (Sam Spandos and his brother) stated the property was almost a total loss.

In March 1954, Hinton announced the opening of a new sales room for Clintonville Electric Appliances at 3361-3363, taking over the spaces after the fire destroyed the businesses at those addresses.

(Images courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch, accessed via the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s NewsBank database. Specific citations can be found by clicking through each link.)