Fresno, CA | Black Friday shoppers take over Tower District record store in Fresno: On Black Friday, a long line formed before sunrise for the opening of a record store in Fresno’s Tower District. Ragin Records was set to open its doors at 8 a.m. for their sale of exclusive vinyl for Black Friday’s Record Store Day. Ragin Records has another location in Fresno’s River Park, but the Tower District location was releasing 82 exclusive titles for Black Friday. These records can only be purchased in person at independent record stores across the country, no one can find them at chain stores, online, or be mail-ordered. It is the biggest day of business for Ragin Records. “The day is so important, it’s the biggest day for business. It is imperative the record labels made it where we have something the chains do not…”
Madison, WI | Madison record store’s Black Friday line goes ‘round and ‘round: Record heads – this one’s for you. A local record store in Madison celebrated Black Friday with dozens of customers lining up around the block to get limited editions of their favorite artist’s records. According to Strictly Disc’s owner, Rick Stoner, customers began lining up last night – with the first two already set and ready by 11:30 p.m. “A lot of people were also showing up as early as one or two o’ clock in the morning,” Stoner said. With the chilly weather, customers were bundled up in coats, hats, scarves, and blankets as they braved the cold with vinyl in hand. To make the process as efficient as possible, each person gets handed a ‘menu’, where they check off what records they want to buy. An employee will then grab the discs from inside the store, hand it back off to the customer, who will then check out with a different employee outside.
Rochester, NY | Independent record stores spin exclusive titles for ‘Record Store Day.’ Shoppers are often looking for deals on the latest tech during Black Friday. Others, they’re looking for deals on the classics. Friday was Record Store Day. The main Record Store Day happens in April. Alayna Alderman with Record Archive in Rochester says Black Friday is like a baby version of the holiday. It started as a way to give independent stores exclusives to set them apart from the bigger stores. Included this year, a red and yellow splattered pressing of local legendary band Joywave’s first EP, only at Record Archive. We also went to Hi-fi lounge on Monroe Avenue in Brighton. Owner Mark Kaidy says this day stirs up a lot of emotion. “For a record store owner when you go to sleep and dream about the perfect day,” Kaidy said. “It kind of looks a lot like record store day. So, I’m really happy to do it.”
Jacksonville, IL | Pizza Records Sees Good Turnout For Second Record Store Day Event: Jacksonville’s lone record store kicked out the jams for Black Friday and for its second Record Store Day event. The inaugural nationwide Record Store Day was first held in 2007. Jacksonville had outlets in the past, but Pizza Records’ owner Devin & Heather Smock brought the tradition back to Jacksonville this past year. The event is known for hosting special pressings of rare albums and releases of popular and limited edition albums for patrons to purchase. Devin Smock says his day began early yesterday morning with a line of music lovers awaiting to get their hands on the special edition releases: “There was a pretty decent-sized line. I got here at 6AM and a couple of my regular customers were already here waiting outside. It was a good line and a nice turnout. It was steady since then, so yeah, it’s been another good one.”
Philadelphia, PA | WXPN hosts reveal their favorite Philly record stores: Black Friday is one of those days that can divide a room. Some folks love to head to KOP to shop the deals while others stay as far away from shopping centers as possible. There’s not much in between. Enter Record Store Day Black Friday. From the folks who bring you Record Store Day (RSD) in April every year, comes RSD Black Friday, a subversive effort to support indie record stores during our nation’s day of commercial shopping hysteria. RSD Black Friday predates Small Business Saturday, and as the organizers say, ”is a way to celebrate the special place of music in our lives by shopping for some of the special people in our lives. At local indie businesses to boot!” For inspiration on where to shop this RSD Black Friday, we asked our hosts to tell us about their favorite local record stores.
London, UK | HMV Oxford Street flagship store reopens four years after closing: HMV’s flagship record store has been reopened by pop band Madness on Oxford Street following a four-year hiatus. The century-old music chain closed its main London branch in 2019 after going into administration. It was then taken over by Sunrise Records. The company said its return was due to a “dramatic turnaround”, with HMV returning to profit in 2022. Owner Doug Putman said the reopening would lead to HMV “once again becoming a mainstay on the UK High Street”. The store at 363 Oxford Street opened its doors to the public at 11:30 GMT. It had first appeared on London’s iconic shopping street in 1921. Mr Putman said the reopening had “been a long time coming.” “The team has spent a lot of time on this… countless hours,” he told BBC Radio London.
Allentown, PA | ‘This place is church:’ Well-loved Double Decker Records shop to close its doors: When the Double Decker Record Shop announced onFacebook it was shutting down, hundreds of people showed up the very same day, and hundreds more the next day — and hundreds more expected until it shuts its doors forever Dec. 2. Open for 27 years, the shop sold vinyl records, CDs, cassettes and other merchandise, without being restricted to one genre or audio format. It also curated an entire James Brown section, which is one of the most popular parts of the store. It is marked by a giant, blushing, airbrush-style painting of James Brown’s face. Throughout Wednesday morning, well over a hundred people came and went through the shop. Many of them were introduced to the record store as kids, and some of them are even old enough to have kids of their own today — some of these young kids came along for a final trip to the record store.
Winsford, UK | The Electric Church record store to launch cocktail bar: The Electric Church in Winsford has announced some major changes are taking place. Having launched in 2017 as a record shop, the venue has continued to evolve, first with the creation of a café and now, a cocktail bar. Owner, Jimi Ray Coppack, said: “We definitely offer something unique in Winsford and will continue to do so but solely relying on record sales is unreliable. “Time after time the revenue generated from the hospitality side of the business has kept us ticking over.” He added: “The Electric Church was born of the love of music and will continue to be, always. “We will still stock and sell records, music memorabilia and homecrafted items but the shift in business will be the addition of a permanent cocktail bar due to open next month.”
Duluth, MN | Vinyl revival lures new record store to Duluth: To classic rockers, the fall of 2023 feels like the fall of 1969 with new vinyl records from the Stones and the Beatles in the Billboard top ten. The crew at Duluth’s new record store, River City Records on Superior Street, has noticed the mania. “Just seeing the excitement and the oh why are they doing that and seeing everyone’s reaction to it is really fun.” said Dury Nelson, manager of River City Records and Books. Dury Nelson at River City tells us it’s not just dinosaur rockers that are taking advantage of a resurgence in interest in vinyl discs. “A lot of new bands are coming out with new albums and pressing them onto vinyl.” said Nelson. By 1990, music fans were told that compact discs would send 45s and LPs to museums. But in 2007, a vinyl revival began that gathers steam every year. Last year, a Taylor swift album sold more vinyl copies than cd copies. Dury thinks he knows the reason why.
Birkenhead, UK | Funny and bizarre record cover exhibition opens at the Williamson: From the unintentionally funny to the completely bizarre, Steve Goldman’s collection of more than 500 record covers, currently on display at the Williamson Art Gallery, is something to behold. Collected over a seven-year period from charity shops and online marketplaces, Steve’s selection criteria is stringent: Is this one of the worst record covers in the world? Birkenhead News, “There’s so many forms of ‘bad’, but it just has to make me laugh!” Steve’s current best worst album cover is a 1960s various artists album called Hand in Hand. The album cover photograph taken by Frits Gerritsen shows a group photo of eight of the nine musicians who contributed to the album. However, the ninth artist, Gert Timmermans, couldn’t be bothered to turn up for the photo shoot, so a black and white photo on an easel was substituted for him.
Peckham, UK | Rye Lane Record Fair is returning to Peckham on December 2nd 2023: Rye Lane Record Fair will be returning to Peckham on December 2nd. The fair will be taking over Shop from Crisis Peckham, as the second hand and vintage specialist clothing shop becomes a haven for vinyl lovers – and all in aid of a good cause. Throughout the day a vast selection of specially curated new and second hand vinyl will be on sale with sounds from around the world and across the musical spectrum. The event is generously supported by the likes of Boomkat, Lex Records, The Trilogy Tapes, Jamaican Records and Byrd Out amongst many more. During the day a host of instore djs will be playing in collaboration with Voices Radio featuring Rohan Rakhit, Norsicaa, Dj Kobayashi, GW Jazz, Ozel AB and Kit Lockey. Record collectors can expect to find extensive collections of house, techno, funk, soul, hip hop, indie, reggae, pop, disco and everywhere beyond.
