US | These five US record stores landed on an international list: Here’s where to find those LPs! You know you love vinyl—it sounds better than anything else, and it gives you the chance to examine large cover art and pore over info sheets inside. Before Spotify, this was how we hopefully found lyrics! And along with the beauty of LPs is the happy afternoon spent in a record store, moving through the albums in the bins. Flip, flip, flip. It’s not a lost art form, far from it. Recently, the Financial Times put together a list of the best record stores in the world, and we’re happy to tease out the five U.S. ones that landed on the list. Is it any surprise that four of them are in NYC and environs? Here we go!
Paris, FR | This major British daily cites four Parisian addresses in its list of the world’s best record shops. Find out which ones! The Financial Times has compiled the world’s best vinyl stores! Paris takes four (prestigious) places! The British media, the Financial Times, has just published its selection of the world’s best record shops. Alongside London, New York and Barcelona, Paris features four addresses in this international top! As a self-respecting digger, every one of your escapades is an excuse to scour the record bins of your holiday destination! Are you always on the lookout for the best places to find the best records, or for a record shop where you can discover the local scene and share your passion without looking at the clock? The renowned Financial Times and its editorial team have published their selection of the world’s most remarkable record shops! Some forty stores based in Stockholm, Sydney and London are listed, as are some in Paris. The capital even ranks four among the media’s favorite addresses.
Minneapolis, MN | Lucky Cat Records brings good fortune to iconic corner: When it comes to the evolution of Minnesota music, few intersections are as instrumental as 26th and Lyndale in south Minneapolis. …At Lucky Cat Records, vinyl heads can get their fix from the store’s new and vintage stacks of wax, but it is also a mini-museum for the local music scene. “With all the history here, it’s really big shoes to fill,” said owner Michele Swanson. Swanson opened the shop this past summer after learning the historic space was available, even though the retired Delta Airlines manager had never run a record store before. “It’s something I never planned on. There’s a pie in the sky sort of idea that came to fruition and it’s just been fantastic,” said Swanson.
Vancouver, CA | Riding the vinyl groove: 13 must-visit record stores in Metro Vancouver: Vancouver’s vinyl record stores are keeping physical music products viable in the digital streaming era. Here’s our list of must-visit stores. Worldwide, vinyl dominates today’s physical music purchases. Vinyl record sales rose in 2024, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with a reported 43.2 million EPs/LPs sold in the U.S. The increase continues a worldwide revival of the pre-digital technology that first surfaced after 2006, when the U.S. market reported an all-time low of less than a million units. It’s an upward trend that the Lower Mainland’s network of indie retailers play a key role in driving. At the aptly named Vinyl Records (44 Water St.) in Gastown, owner David Love Jones said there are obvious reasons why a technology from the analog 1940s keeps spinning along—and gaining new coverts while predicting CDs won’t ever make a similar return.
New Delhi, IN | New Delhi record store Digging In India launches label: The imprint will focus on physical releases of contemporary, recent and vintage Indian music. New Delhi record store Digging In India is launching a new label. Headed up by Indian music archivist Nishant Mittal (who also DJs as Digging In India), the label plans to release an array of contemporary, recent, and vintage Indian music. It will focus on bringing recently-released Indian albums to physical formats. Digging In India Records’ first release is a cassette drop of experimental hip-hop trio EXCISE DEPT’s record SAB KUCH MIL GAYA MUJHE VOL 1, which the group shared in August 2024. …Mittal told Resident Advisor the label hopes to start releasing vinyl by the end of 2025, with an eye for “funky Indian tunes” from the ’70s and ’80s.
Napa Valley, CA | 3 Napa record store owners see surge in vinyl sales: Napa sees a vinyl resurgence with three independent record stores attracting unique customers reflecting national trends in vinyl popularity. Diane Hardman and her daughter could not contain their excitement as they perused bins of mostly used vinyl at downtown Napa’s RebelGirl Records on a recent Thursday morning. Plucking a Barry Manilow album from the $5 bin, the 63-year-old Hardman, who lives in Salem, Utah, recalled seeing the legendary crooner in Las Vegas. Heather Giles, 25, next held up a Barbra Streisand album. “You like her?” the Fairfield resident asked her mother. “Oh my gosh,” Hardman replied. “Five dollars. Seriously?” The conversation was reminiscent of the days, prior to streaming music services and digital downloads, when buying and listening to music meant going to a store and whiling away hours checking out album covers.
St. Petersburg, FL | Five Bay area record shops are popping up at St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club this weekend: Radio St. Pete will be on site to broadcast your selections. The good weather is supposed to roll into the weekend, and that bodes well for this pop-up which is kind of a like a warm up for Record Store Day happening in April. Five Bay area brick-and-mortar stores—Daddy Kool, Microgroove, Planet Retro, Bananas and Modern Needs—are setting up camp at St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, which opens its doors to the public and offers free play, too (donations will be accepted). Radio St. Pete will be on site with a turntable, too, ready to broadcast your selections on 96.7-FM and radiostpete.com. There’s no cover for the Record Store Pop-Up happening Sunday, Feb. 2 at St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club.
Orlando, FL | Orlando International Record Show spins into town this weekend: The three-day event will take place Jan. 31 through Feb. 2 at theCentral Florida Fairgrounds, 4603 W. Colonial Drive, Orlando. Attention music aficionados: The Orlando International Record Show returns this weekend. The three-day event will take place Jan. 31 through Feb. 2 at theCentral Florida Fairgrounds, 4603 W. Colonial Drive, Orlando. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. This year’s show—the largest vinyl record show on the East Coast—will feature 20,000 square feet of vinyl records, CDs and music memorabilia on more than 200 tables.
Redditch, UK | Vinyl lovers to enjoy first Record Fair in Redditch: Redditch is gearing up for its first Record Fair. The event, set to offer a plethora of vinyl and CD collections, will be held on Saturday, February 1. Organised by former Vintage Trax owner Ros Sidaway, the fair will run from 10am to 3pm at the Rocklands Club on Birchfield Road, Headless Cross. A variety of traders are expected to attend, providing a selection of pre-loved and new vinyl albums, singles, and CDs from the 1960s to the 2000s, with something to suit all tastes and budgets. The fair also promises a broad range of genres. Both admission and parking are free for the event. There will be a licensed bar on site.
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