Rough Trade is Coming to Liverpool!
Rough Trade to open brand new 6500 square foot store in the North West on Thursday 18th April in Liverpool. Located on Hanover Street, the sixth UK store will become Rough Trade’s largest national location, inclusive of a dedicated venue space. Rough Trade are thrilled to become a part of such a dynamic city that is rich in musical heritage and we look forward to contributing to a lively and exciting community of music fans. The news comes after a period of growth for the independent, which has tripled its UK vinyl market share in the past five years. Scheduled to open on Thursday 18th April, the 6500 square foot store will welcome customers just days before its Record Store Day debut on Saturday, 20th April.
The new store is set to become Rough Trade’s sixth and largest UK location, joining stores in East, West, and Central London, Bristol, and Nottingham. This announcement follows Rough Trade’s expansion into the European market earlier this year and news of a flagship store set to open in Berlin on 18th April 2024.
“We are very excited to be coming to Liverpool, a fantastic city with world-famous musical heritage, known for its community. For me, it’s important that we can offer the best and widest range of vinyl records that will live up to fans’ expectations and present the best in-store events and fantastic customer service. We have recruited a fantastic team, with a vast range of music knowledge, who are all very excited to welcome our customers to the new store. We aim for Rough Trade Liverpool to become a central hub for music fans of Liverpool and to reflect the rich and diverse music scene.”
Rich Nemeth, Head of Retail at Rough Trade
“We are excited to grow our UK presence with a store in Liverpool. The city has such a rich musical heritage as well as a vibrant scene right now which we hope to honour and represent in the best way we can. The scale (both size and ambition) of the store shows our commitment and investment to the city. We can’t wait to delight customers in the record store and venue in due course.”
Lawrence Montgomery, Managing Director at Rough Trade
The new store location comprises two floors, with the ground floor housing the record store and café, which will serve Dark Arts Coffee. Meanwhile, the first floor features a dedicated venue space with a capacity of 290, as well as a fully functioning bar stocked with a selection of Signature Brew beers exclusively on tap. As part of the staggered launch, the ground floor will be open on 18th April, with the first floor and venue space open fully from May, when it will kick off its live in-store events programme with a busy month of shows, including headline slots for Jordan Rakei, Villagers, Bess Atwell, Alfie Templeman, and Seasick Steve. Rough Trade also joins forces with Content, hosting out-store shows inside their brand new state of the art venue space in the heart of the city. The retailer will also partner with Sound City Liverpool for 2024, whose 3-day festival programme brings the best new talent to a music loving audience in independent venues across the city.
Customers to the Liverpool store will have access to a wide range of music titles on vinyl, spanning a generous mix of genres. An exciting selection of new and catalogue releases will also be available to purchase, as well as a quality pre-loved section, an excellent curation of books, Rough Trade’s new and improved core merch lines, exclusive collaborations and limited-edition capsules. Rough Trade’s charity partner, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), will be represented at till points, as in all Rough Trade stores, with fundraising supporting their crucial work in suicide awareness and prevention. The Liverpool store will be supported by other key partners, with event ticketing facilitated by DICE, the venue’s bespoke backline provided by Marshall, and the store’s audio system supplied by Cambridge Audio.
Scene Here: Liverpool
Liverpool-based design house Dorothy will create a unique art piece to hang in the entrance space of Rough Trade Liverpool. Entitled ‘Scene Here: Liverpool,’ the mapping project will celebrate the history of the city’s music scene from the 1950s to the present day. Dorothy and Rough Trade Liverpool will be inviting visitors to the store to contribute to a feature wall that will showcase the clubs and venues that helped make Liverpool one of the most musically creative and influential cities for music in the world. Customers can share their memories in-store or online and follow the wall’s progress as it evolves and responds to contributions over the coming months. Click & Collect is now fully operational at Rough Trade Liverpool! Customers can order online at roughtrade.com and collect from our Hanover Street location.
