Village Vinyl has strong Black Friday vibe
Special releases, giveaways drive business on busy shopping day
Reports of the death of the brick and mortar store have been greatly exaggerated judging by the long line that was wrapped around Warren’s Village Vinyl record store on Black Friday morning.
Despite the popularity and ease of online shopping, local businesses often have something to offer that customers can’t get via a website. Village Vinyl, located on Chicago Road in the city’s historic district being a perfect example.
“The big thing is our special Record Store Day releases,” said owner John Lehl. “These
are limited releases that you are not going to be able to buy online until tomorrow and by that time, you’re trying your luck because they are often already gone.
The first of these is held in April, marking the release of between 400 and 500 new vinyl records. The second Record Store Day on Black Friday features fewer releases, in the area of 125-150, but still sparks plenty of excitement for music fans.
“We don’t guarantee that we are going to have a particular release because we can’t control what the distributors are going to send us,” said Lehl. “But we do our best and do what we can and most everyone that walks away from here is happy.”
Lehl said the hot items this Black Friday were: Dream Widow, which is the fictional band featured in the Foo Fighters’ horror/comedy feature film “Studio 666”; Smash Mouth’s Fush Yu Mang; Grateful Dead Wembley Empire Pool, London, England, 4/7/1972 live recording; and the Jerry Garcia Coliseum, Hampton VA November 9,1991 five-record box set.
To help ensure that customers get a fair chance at finding what they want in stock at Village Vinyl, customers are only allowed to purchase one copy of a particular title. Lehl said the policy helps to keep “flippers” from purchasing all of the copies of an item, then turning around and selling them online for a higher price.
Village Vinyl employee Alex Delavan says he would not be up at the crack of dawn on Black Friday if it were not for his love of records. He has worked several Record Store Day Black Fridays and thrives on introducing customers to new music and offering his opinion on various albums.
“I had a customer who was holding a Ghost album and I told him that was the album that was on my turntable the most this year,” said Delavan.
There is something just a little more special about an in-person endorsement of an album as opposed to an online review.
Like many stores, Village Vinyl had doorbusters. There were gift packs for the first 30 customers that included a koozie, candy, 45 record adapter and other fun items. One of the 30 gift packs also contained a $25 gift card. There were poster and compact disc giveaways and a special offer for shoppers who came after 11 a.m. on Black Friday only.
“We always work with Kuhnhenn Brewing. So today, if you take a receipt from here and go across the street over there, you will get $1 off a beverage,” said Lehl. “We try to drive business and keep this little community together.”
On the subject of the resurgence of vinyl records, Lehl said they never really went away but that in recent years, interest has increased. The advent of compact discs made vinyl recede, but not totally.
“You have the 1990s and early 2000s where there were very limited pressings so a lot of the records produced at that time are very valuable because they were so limited,” said Lehl. “I’d say by the late 2000s, around 2010, that is when everything started to go back up.
“Right now it’s good so let’s hope it just keeps going.”