Japo Records

In 1967, Manfred Scheffner started a mailorder business for Jazz LPs which he named "Jazz by Post" (JAPO). At first operated out of his home and from 1968 at Elektro-Egger, an electric appliances store in Munich-Pasing, Germany. In 1969 a record store was added that by the end of the 70s had become the leading Jazz record shop in Germany. In addition to selling records, JAPO acted as a jazz label. JAPO LPs were produced by Manfred Scheffner, Thomas Stöwsand, Steve Lake (2), Manfred Eicher (of ECM Records) or by the artists themselves. The JAPO mailorder and record store went out of business in 1989 when Manfred Scheffner (now retired) changed to the clothing department store "Ludwig Beck" (located at Marienplatz in Munich), where he built up a jazz department ("jazz is beck") which today is the biggest Jazz (and Classical) CD store in Germany. The JAPO label with its back catalog was taken over by ECM Records.