UK | Record Store Day to return on Saturday 20 April 2024: The date for Record Store Day 2024 has been confirmed alongside a brand new official partner. The annual celebration of independent record shops will take place this year on Saturday, 20 April, with more than 250 independent record shops expected to take part across the UK. Now one of the biggest events in the music calendar, shops will host parties, live performances, DJ sets to celebrate the unique culture of record shopping, the art of vinyl and the music-loving people behind the counter serving music to their local communities. And as always, a range of exclusive and limited-edition releases will be available on the day at participating retailers, with the full list to be published later this year. Record Store Day have also announced their official wine partner for the 2024 event, Studio by Miraval.
Liverpool, UK | Rough Trade is opening a brand new 6500 square foot store in Liverpool: It’ll be the chain’s sixth UK location, and its biggest so far. Rough Trade is set to open its largest UK location to date in Liverpool. This new store will be the sixth in the UK for Rough Trade, joining its three London locations and stores in Bristol and Nottingham. The company also plans to expand into Europe, with a flagship store in Berlin slated for 2024. Situated at 50-56 Hanover Street in the city centre, it promises a dynamic event schedule featuring both national and local acts. The 6500 square foot space, scheduled to open in the early months of this year, will also include a bar and café, in collaboration with Signature Brew and Dark Arts, offering draught beers and fresh coffee. Lawrence Montgomery, managing director at Rough Trade, expressed enthusiasm about the new venture: “We are excited to grow our UK presence with a store in Liverpool…”
Montreal, CA | How an independent record store owner makes a go of things: Nick Catalano loves music. He loves playing music, he loves listening to music. He loves buying rare records. He loves selling new and used albums to vinyl and CD enthusiasts at his store Beatnick, a veritable museum of music history that opened in December 1998 at the corner of St. Denis and Pine Avenue. What he doesn’t love is the part of the process that starts his day at the store — finding a place to park, and then having to lug heavy items from blocks away. Catalano lays the blame at the feet of the Plante administration. “It’s the hunt for parking when you pay thousands and thousands of dollars of business tax,” he told The Suburban as we drove in his vehicle hunting for parking. “Our wonderful Mayor is constantly adding to the bicycle paths and taking away parking spots. She’s, at the moment, extending it from Duluth to Sherbrooke, which means all those parking spots, which you had to pay for, are not going to be available anymore.
Lisle, IL | Get into the groove at new hybrid record store/taproom in Lisle: A new business in Lisle is combining the resurgent cool of vinyl records with the deliciousness of cold craft beer. Crooked Arm Vinyl & Tap opened this week in Lisle’s College Square Shopping Center at 6450 College Road. There will be a grand opening celebration Friday and Saturday. The combo record store, craft beer taproom and bottle shop boasts a collection of 13,000 new and used vinyl records and eight tap handles featuring a rotating selection of local craft beers. “We know craft beer and vinyl records have their respective passionate communities, so bringing them together under one roof just made a lot of sense to me, and we think it will make a lot of sense to our guests too,” owner Joe Lottino said in a news release. Crooked Arm will feature fresh beers from West suburban and Chicago breweries, plus a small bottle shop featuring select wine, spirits, small-batch sodas, seltzers and locally made nonalcoholic beers.
St. Peter, MN | Gustavus professor, rapper opens record store in downtown St. Peter: For philosopher, rapper, theologian and now St. Peter’s newest business owner Jon Ivan Gill, music’s power to move and shape people’s lives is comparable to the influence of the divine. The idea that music can imbue its listeners and practitioners with identity, purpose and even guide them toward a good life drives Gill’s own work as an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Gustavus Adolphus College, where he explores the boundaries between hip-hop and philosophical and religious thought in courses like Philosophy and Battle Rap. So when Gill and his brother Steven Andrews decided to open up a new record store at 123 S. Minnesota Avenue, they chose a fitting name to describe the shelves of cutting edge and classic records inside: Aesthetic Religion, Records & Texts. Sandwiched between Rick’s Consignment and Antiques and Southern Minnesota Orthodontics, the downtown record store celebrated its grand opening on Friday by bringing the music to downtown St. Peter with a symphony of special events.
Orcutt, CA | Orcutt record, collectibles store an eclectic mix of vinyl, antiques, instruments: ‘It’s a walk down memory lane.’ Paradise Records and Trading Post co-owner Mike Alexander said his unique store has been helping people relive their childhood for eight years, and he will soon be passing it down to his son Michael. “My son and I are co-owners and Michael will be the sole owner eventually when I retire. He is phenomenal and I’m really proud of him,” said Alexander. “My son is really good with the store because a lot of this is, I mean we’re like a library, music library, comics library, cards and everything is alphabetical, chronological it has to be organized.” Alexander said his retirement is still several years away because it’s really hard to call what he does a job, when they have so much fun in the store. He describes himself as a 63 year-old kid, who is happy that the people he works with keep him young. “We never know what’s coming through those doors, it’s always something and there’s a lot of times where there is something that is very unique and kind of fun,” he said.
Chase, MI | Uncle Ed’s Records an oasis for purists and music lovers: The store has over 6,000 records in its collection. In the heart of Chase, music lovers of all ages can find solace at Uncle Ed’s Records. The store, located at 8488 E. Center St., can offer a timeless auditory experience wrapped in the warm embrace of a hometown record store. Ed Schultz, the passionate proprietor of Uncle Ed’s Records, embarked on this melodic journey following his retirement from the Yoplait factory in Reed City. With a lifelong love for music that traces back to his early days with Beatles albums, Schultz realized his dream after stumbling upon a building for sale in Chase. Supported by his wife, Lisa, Ed Schultz converted the space into a record store, creating a unique space he now tends to full-time. “I retired from Yoplait, and I’m having fun,” Schultz said, reflecting on the joy the store brought him in retirement. In an era dominated by digital convenience, Schultz remains a fervent advocate for vinyl records. He attributes their enduring popularity to the unmatched sound quality and the immersive experience they offer.
Cambridge, MA | Skip the streaming for more CDs, tapes and vinyl and get physical on a route you can shop in a day: This one’s for the physical media crowd. Better yet, this one is for any music lover who wants to make good on a New Year’s resolution to ease off the throttle of their streaming habit and buy more physical media. Streaming platforms exploit musicians. Until that changes, vote with your heart, mind and wallet by getting more CDs, tapes and vinyl into your music rotation. You don’t need to wait for Record Store Day (4/20, dude!) to make good on your resolution. You don’t need to wait for Small Business Saturday (first Saturday after Thanksgiving) to drop dollars at local music shops. …Have we listed every shop in Cambridge and Somerville where you can buy music? Of course not! But we offer a few highlights that are in walkable distance of each other. Even so, you might need to break the sojourn into two days if you want to hit both the Cambridge and Somerville legs of the walk. Or take a bike!
Greenyl and Rude Records launch ‘Be The Change’ campaign: Greenyl and Rude Records have launched a special campaign! The campaign, titled Be The Change, was developed in partnership with Greenyl, the first 100% eco-friendly vinyl record plant, and Rude Cares, the charitable arm of certified B-Corp Rude Records. The campaign aims at raising awareness towards climate change and the environmental impact generated in the music community. Each record is printed on 100% eco-friendly, PVC-free Greenyl, made from a certified 99% recycled plastic compound with zero emissions during the production process, manufactured sustainably as 80% of energy used by the plant comes from solar panels and completed with certified paper parts (FSC & PEFC) and eco-friendly UV inks for LP labels. Speaking about the launch of the campaign, Ilich Rausa, co-founder of Greenyl and president of Rude Records, says, “we’re on a mission to flip the script on vinyl manufacturing, launching a project that’s not just music but a message for our world. I’m very excited that fans can enjoy eco-friendly vinyl versions of milestone LPs that rock as hard as their favourite bands.”
