Our Story

The Forever Changes story actually begins is 1971. James Cephas, a musician with a flare for accounting and business, opened King James Sound Center in 1967. In those first years, the shop was run by James, his wife Mary, and the oldest of the four children, Andre (pictured above). Shawn, the fifth and youngest child, came along in 1971. At this point, as the fledgling business was still getting going, the family of seven lived above the record store. Shawn was literally surrounded by the record shop’s inventory.

The business grew to three locations by the late ’70s, and its popularity grew as well. Each member of the family has their own stories of meeting and hanging with celebrities of the era. Shawn was constantly in the store and at his dad’s side, soaking in the industry and scene. By his teens and twenties, Shawn had developed his own passion for music.

After 30 years in the industry and five years battling cancer, James Cephas passed away in September of 1997. Shawn was tasked with assessing the future of the stores and taking the necessary actions. At 27 years old, Shawn had to bury his father and make the difficult choice to close the doors of King James Records.

Shawn never lost the love of being behind the counter of a record store (even working part time at a Sam Goody after James passed just to be around retail music). In 2018, Shawn landed on the idea of a pop-up record shop, and it finally felt like the right time to continue his father’s legacy and his family’s business. In true Cephas form, with his wife Anna on board helping with inventory, web design, assisting with ordering, and the weekly set up, Forever Changes was born in 2019 – and with it, the family business was reborn. The pop-up found its home in 2021, when the storefront on 28 S. Main St opened in Phoenixville.