oojavaguru Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/5695502/exclusive-rough-trade-will-open-flagship-us-store-nov-25-in-new-york Rough Trade, the iconic London music retailer that spawned Rough Trade Records and served as a cradle for post-punk music in the late 1970s, will open its first flagship store in the U.S. in New York on Monday, November 25. The store, a 15,000 square foot repurposed film prop warehouse in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, represents a major gamble on the American music market by the retailer, which in recent years has enjoyed a sales boom in the U.K. despite harsh industry realities in that country and around the word. In April, the British trade magazine Music Week named Rough Trade “Retail Brand of the Year.” “New York and London are similar in many ways -- they're kaleidoscopic celebrations of global differences and similarities,” Rough Trade co-president Stephen Godfroy tells Billboard of expanding across the Atlantic. “They enjoy an open-mindedness, a deep respect for the past, a voracious appetite for the future, which all combines to produce a climate that suits our individual approach to music retail.” The Williamsburg store was originally announced in April of 2012, with plans to open its doors at an unspecified date later that year. But what Godfroy describes as “numerous obstacles in the construction planning and building process” left those plans in limbo until now. Rough Trade N.Y.C. will sell all new music -- no used -- in multiple formats in addition to serving as a “healthy-sized place to hang out” for music lovers. A portion of the space has been sectioned off as a performance venue for free in-stores as well as after-hours ticketed concerts booked by The Bowery Presents. The store will join other live music venues in perpetually developing North Williamsburg, including Bowery’s Brooklyn Bowl, Output and the Williamsburg Waterfront and Williamsburg Park. “The emphasis will be on music the art, not the commodity,” says Godfroy. “In that respect, it will be true to our London stores, places where music and culture lovers of all ages and taste congregate and celebrate what it means to be independent.” Physical music retailers in the U.S. have endured a bitter decline in sales as consumers have shifted to digital consumption methods. In the past five years, sales at independent music retailers have fallen 36.1%, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while chain stores and mass merchant retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy saw even bigger dips of 71.6% and 51.7% over the same period, respectively. In New York just this year, independent retailers Bleecker Bob’s andSound Fix records closed their doors due to intractable profit margins. There are signs that physical formats aren’t dead yet, however. Vinyl sales are so far up a whopping 31.9% just this year, according to SoundScan, continuing a hockey-stick growth phase for the format that dates back to the first Record Store Day in 2008. In London, Rough Trade Retail Group, which operates independently from Rough Trade Records, has two stores, Rough Trade West and Rough Trade East. The latter, opened in 2007, is the larger of the two, but at 5,000 square feet is only one third the size of the New York store. “This city demands something truly special, and hopefully that's what we can achieve in collaboration with the people that visit and go on to define the space over the months and years to come,” says Godfroy. “[The store is] a way of saying ‘thank you’ for the joy and inspiration NYC has given us with its music and culture.” _______________________________________________________________________________ I'm a little jealous, as this store will likely be like Tower/HMV used to be back in the day....able to get UK imports pretty cheap. I'd also not be surprised if they ended up sending items from UK RSD here to sell exclusively in their store. Any items that are only released or made available in EU/UK will be another area where this store could really help out (going there to special order UK/EU items and saving on shipping costs for instance). I guess with them opening on 11/25, they should partake in Black Friday RSD. jipc and kamalatapes 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veggiecorecords Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 This sounds really cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomfiend Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Keen to check this out. Went to rough trade west quite a bit when I was living in London. Disappointing to read they won't carry any used stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseypride Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Cool pics here http://gizmodo.com/more-than-a-record-shop-inside-brooklyns-massive-new-1471414581/@maxread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ent Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Hope to check this out this weekend or some other time soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collectivemike Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Am I missing the address somewhere? SOMEBODY HELP ME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomfiend Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 64 N 9th St, Williamsburg dude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamalatapes Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Awesome! Yet another reason to be visit Brooklyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collectivemike Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 64 N 9th St, Williamsburg dude. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepunkguy Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 I went yesterday. all new stuff. some cool things about it. don't know if I will shop a ton there.. but the place is really really nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bossdj26 Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Will definitely check this place out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnumtaurus Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Hitting up the Television show on Saturday... interested to see what this place is like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negavinyl Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 So in addition to this, any tips on good NYC record stores in Queens or near Rough Trade? Sounds like Bleeker St is gone. I'll be there for a wedding this week and will have a little AM downtime to crate dig. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnumtaurus Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 My input for the Williamsburg/Bushwick/Greenpoint area (in no particular order): Captured Tracks Earwax Co-Op 87 Heaven Street Human Head Record Grouch ...and then Other Music in Manhattan. Those are the stores I hit every time I'm in NYC, and every time, I come home with happy ears and a sad wallet. I would skip Rough Trade all together, honestly. It's all new stock and reissues. Nothing particularly special, and overpriced by a few bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bossdj26 Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 nothing but good things to say about human head thepunkguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toomanyrecords Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 nothing but good things to say about human head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapidfiretollbooth Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 nothing but good things to say about human head Definitely Human Head. Bleeker St just moved around the corner but it's still around. I'd also check out Turntable Lab, Generation Records, & Other Music. But I'd stick with the ones stated above specifically Human Head and Earwax. But Turntable Lab in the East Village has always had some amazing gems you can only find in store and not on their website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepunkguy Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 travis at human head is a really solid dude and will definitely be nothing but cool and helpful.. permanent records in greenpoint is also worth checking out (but they'll be moving their shop soon but I think they're still open).. also don't forget Academy in Greenpoint also. enjoy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GradedOnACurve Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 So in addition to this, any tips on good NYC record stores in Queens or near Rough Trade? Sounds like Bleeker St is gone. I'll be there for a wedding this week and will have a little AM downtime to crate dig. Thanks. NYC catch all thread: http://boards.vinylcollective.com/topic/97256-vc-nyc-new-york-city/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negavinyl Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Thanks to you all! Probably more than I can even get to in the time I have there. Last question, best place for good used scores, with hopefully some more recent stock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapidfiretollbooth Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Thanks to you all! Probably more than I can even get to in the time I have there. Last question, best place for good used scores, with hopefully some more recent stock? Academy Records or The Thing... But beware of The Thing.... If you go, better give yourself a few hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron666monkey Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Thanks to you all! Probably more than I can even get to in the time I have there. Last question, best place for good used scores, with hopefully some more recent stock? Human Head. Travis is always putting out fresh new finds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowty Dollaz Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Anyone been to a show here? It's a pretty sweet venue. I saw Conor Oberst w/ Dawes for his newer record release. I enjoyed it. Some chick gave me the last 3/4 of her beer towards the end. Good night. Good night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapidfiretollbooth Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Weird coincidence how this article just came out today after you asked earlier this week. Not sure how Human Head didn't make this list but the rest of these stores are pretty top notch. But definitely don't skip out on Human Head! http://gothamist.com/2014/08/21/the_best_record_stores_in_nyc.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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