There may have previously been some debate over which store is the hipsters’ favourite, but that argument is now over.
Some independent record shop purists might raise an eyebrow at the news but it is now official, Urban Outfitters is the biggest seller of vinyl in the world.
The company’s chief administrative officer confirmed to analysts yesterday that the store is now the largest seller of vinyl. They outsell Amazon.com and every other retail record shop.
CAO Calvin Hollinger said, “Music is very, very important to the Urban customer… in fact, we are the world’s number one vinyl seller.” He explained that Urban Outfitters doesn’t even manage any of their vinyl, they have a system in place that lets the company essentially just rent out its coveted shelves to roughly 100 different vendors, without actually owning that inventory.
The vinyl industry has unexpectedly boomed over the last couple of years with sales of over 6.1 million in 2013 and more set for this year.
Here’s a chart via Statista that shows how vinyl sales have skyrocketed in the past few years. Vinyl sales still make up a small percentage of overall sales, but as CD sales plummeted over the past decade, it’s nice to see people want to buy a physical copy as opposed to a digital download.
