If possible, Record Day was even bigger this year than last year, when Taylor Swift caused traffic jams at record stores across the country, according to some of the retailers Advertising signThe Retail Track columnist visited last Saturday (April 20).
Retail track
Courtesy photo
This year, the Olivia Rodrigo “Stick Season”/Noah Kahan “Lacy” seven-inch was reported as the most popular seller by store managers and owners, but overall, a wider range of releases drove more in-store traffic, according to store Rough Trade . director George Flanagan.
Other big sellers—or records that retailers wish they had more copies of—included Chappell Roan's seven-inch “Pink Pony Club.” the Sparks/Noël double LP No. 1 Song in Heaven/Is there more to life than dancing?; talking heads' Live on WCOZ double LP; Sabrina Carpenter's “Feather” seven-inch. and a 12-inch featuring David Byrne's cover of “Hard Time” and Paramore's cover of “Burning Down The House.”
This year, Swift issued Department of Tormented Poets on Friday, one day before Record Store Day (RSD), and has so far sold an astonishing 1.5 million records in its first three days of availability. But independent record traders say that while the album was solid in weekend sales, this album didn't have the impact that Swift's exclusive for last year's RSD, Folklore: the Long Pond Studio sessions. That's because this year's album was widely available on mass merchandisers, Amazon, and on its website, and at retail prices just above wholesale cost. However, retailers say they will always warmly welcome any new launch from Swift.
The Retail Track started the day at Darkside Records in Poughkeepsie, New York, where by 9:15 — 15 minutes after the store opened — there were about 250 people waiting in line for their turn to enter the store. Letting customers in 15 to 20 at a time, the line — which stretched until almost 6:30 p.m. on Saturday — stretched around the 9,000-square-foot store and deep into the parking lot that was filled to capacity. The first person in line showed up at 8pm. on Thursday (April 18), according to Darkside's co-owner Justin Johnsonwho added that when he showed up to open the store on Friday morning (April 19), a full day before Record Store Day began, there were already four people in line.
“It was an absolutely incredible turnout. Everyone was really cool and we had a great time,” Johnson said Advertising sign. “It was our best day ever and spoiled last year's Record Store Day, which was our best day up until that point.”
In addition, a woman drove 11 hours from Michigan to shop at Darkside because of the way the store handled Taylor Swift's autographed CD last year, she told Johnson. “[She] wanted to support us in treating Swifties fairly and fighting bots,” Johnson said. And it showed up early enough in the store to be No. 10 in the line, he added.
After leaving Darkside, Retail Track drove over the Hudson River to Middletown, New York to visit Rock Fantasy, a record/pinball/video game store. Open since 1985, Rock Fantasy is based on hard rock/metal, but owner Stephen Keeler said that the Rodrigo/Kahan single was the top seller of the day. He added that about 30 customers were in line when he showed up to open the store. Additionally, he says the store celebrated Record Store/420 Day by hosting two shows on back-to-back nights at Quinnz Pinz, the local bowling alley where he promotes shows. The weekend kicked off with a Grateful Dead tribute band, Yours sincerely, Friday night; while on Saturday night, the Kiss tribute band Psycho circus are performed. On the afternoon of Record Store Day, Rock Fantasy held an in-store pinball tournament.
Some of the 250 music fans waiting in line for their turn to shop Darkside Records—a store logo displayed above the stage structures.
Ed Christman
The layout of Rock Fantasy is long and narrow, almost like a railway compartment with five or six rooms. In addition to the records, tchotchkes and other music memorabilia he sells in the two front rooms, the store also houses 53 pinball machines and a few vintage video games. Customers can choose to play machines featuring Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Kiss, Ted Nugent, AC/DC, Beatles, Elton John, Rolling Stones and Guns & Roses, as well as machines licensed from films such as Jaws, Pulp Fiction, Godzilla, OO7 and Jurassic Park.
Back on the other side of the Hudson, the Retail Track tasted some success with a store called The Vinyl Room in Beacon, New York. While it turned out to be more of a bar and restaurant than a record store, it was still a fun place to visit. The place only had two racks of vinyl, mostly used records, but the store's interior design, which used records and other music memorabilia and decorations, made the trip worthwhile.
Across the street at the local VFW Hall was the Beacon Record & CD Fest, a swap meet with about a dozen vendors where Retail Track succeeded in scoring a copy of the Tommy James & The Shondells single “Gingerbread Man” on Roulette Records. .
Staying on the same side of the Hudson, the Retail Track then headed to Cold Springs, New York and visited Half Moon Records at The Shoppes, a merchant-style facility with several different rooms and stores. Half Moon, which spanned the two front rooms of The Shoppes, was full of records. One of the co-owners, Petros Habousis, said the store had just doubled the space devoted to records about a month ago. while co-owner Nicole Le Blanc he said the store hopes to build its stock in country music. Like other dealers, Habousi said he wished he had received more copies of the Byrne and Paramore record, as well as the Cranberries. He said he usually does good business on Record Day later in the afternoon as dedicated music shoppers continue their explorations.
Finally, Retail Track returned to New York to visit Rough Trade Records, which had a line of about 100 people when the store opened, including the customer George West, who was first in line at about 5 p.m. the previous Friday night. West is usually first in line each year at the store for the event, said Rough Trade's Flanagan, who added that by 8pm on Friday, five people had lined up. The line lasted all day Saturday until about 5:30 p.m., when the store stopped regulating the influx. Still, when Retail Track showed up around 6 p.m., the store was packed and still doing brisk business.
Rough Trade and Rockefeller Center presented the Indie Plaza in conjunction with Record Store Day, where eight bands and DJs entertained music fans, Rough Trade customers and tourists from 1pm to 9pm. Pictured above is the Rough Trade booth filled with records and next to it is the artist merchandise booth selling merchandise from the bands. In the background, on stage, Armand Hammer walks through their set.
Ed Christman
Another factor that boosted traffic and sales at Rough Trade on Saturday was that it hosted the Indie Plaza at Rockefeller Center, the huge open space above the ice rink. During the day, DJs and bands took turns playing on a stage set up at the end of the plaza bordering 50th Street, entertaining the crowd until 9pm. rough trade set up a booth full of music, while next door was another booth with merchandise from the bands playing that day to sell to fans enjoying the shows. Dave The Spazz, Sunrisa Disco and Nancy Whang took turns manning the DJ booth between sets by Cloud Nothings, Dehd, Armand Hammer, Glitterer, Sunny War, Corridor, Snõõper and Wishy.
“Last year, Record Store Day was our best day and it's worth noting that Taylor Swift was a huge part of our business that day,” Flanagan said. “I was convinced we wouldn't be able to overcome it, but we did. we grew 5% to 10% more. I think one of the reasons [2024 RSD] it became the best store day ever because there were about 20% more titles this year.”
For the last store visit of the day, the plan was to head back to Astoria, Queens headquarters to visit the semi-new Pancake Records on Steinway Street. But the Retail Track ran out of gas (figuratively) and time (literally) — and the local bar with cold cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon was ticking.
