The Neon Museum
Historic neon from the golden era of music retail, restored, relit, and still buzzing. Over 100 Neons in-store.
Still Glowing After All These Years
Our Real Groovy neon sign going up at our new store on 19 Victoria Street in 2023. Hopefully its last move. Carefully restored and brought back to life by neon specialist Jim Sharfe, who made sure every detail stayed true to the original.
Neon Museum A1 Poster
We're not only a record store.. Real Groovy happens to be home to the largest vintage neon sign collection in Aotearoa. Pretty far out! Check out some of our favourites on this poster that we sell online and in-store.
THE NEON MUSEUM
Our vintage neon sign collection is the biggest and best in Aotearoa, with some nearly a century old! It all started in 1984, when our founder & current owner, Chris Hart, commissioned Claude Neon to create a neon to replace a painted sign which lived above the first ever Real Groovy at 23 Mount Eden Road. The "real" neon is the same as the current sign, erected first at 492 Queen Street. Excluding our time at 520 Queen Street, in which the sign lived in storage, this neon beacon has lived both inside and outside all of our locations. More about Real Groovy's history can be found here.
The Astor Theatre
c. 1999. Original maker unknown. Refurbished by Jim Scharfe at Pro Sign Services. Kindly on loan by Richard Goulden.
One of the most eye-catching neons at Real Groovy, The Astor Theatre sign welcomes in every customer & artist who graces our store, sitting right above the entrance.
Originally opened in 1911 as the Empire Theatre, The Astor was one of Auckland's busiest cinemas in Auckland until it's closing in 1985.
Stored under Richard Goulden's home for decades - Richard, Chris and Dan Bali spent one day in 2023 hauling the sign out of storage. Chris even has a few scars leftover from the day.
THE PLAZA NEON
Another one of the neon signs you simply can't miss in-store. Opened in the 1930s, the Plaza Theatre was a staple for all early movie-goers. Richard, who recovered the sign, bought the sign for two dozen "half and half" beer (half DB, half Lion Red... that old chestnut). It took a week to get the whole sign down, with help of the workers set to demolish the theatre. With the belief it would never work again, it sat under his home for about 30 year, until Chris asked "you still got that Plaza sign?"
Kindly on loan by Richard Goulden.
CIN CIN
Unknown
Cin Cin was the place to be in downtown Auckland, the restaurant opened in 1988 by Luis and Tonci Farac with Chef Warwick Brown.
Records
Made by Paul Hartigan
Preeminent neon artist, Paul Hartigan, made this sign for Colin Cleave of Revival Records in the 80s. It now lives on the record wall in our current store.
