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Rough Trade Liverpool

S

Subharmonicon

pfm Member
The other day Rough Trade opened there new store in Liverpool so yesterday their 2nd day open I made a visit. I was left quite disappointed. Im going to mention a few observations from my 20mins and zero purchases On Friday. Rough Trade are firstly going on about how they are there for the love of vinyl and expertise in music, how vinyl is the best way to listen to music etc. So when I went to the Jazz section and notices apart from the obscene prices that 90% of their pressings were on DOL this was an eye opener. Firstly DOL pressings are unlicensed pressing and sound awful. Anyone going into the store buying these will be sorely disappointed and some may well be put off vinyl because of this. (sale price was £15) for a DOL pressing! the store also had some turntables on display for sale, Crowley suitcase decks and some really cheap audio technical models. For a shop thats all about vinyl and quality this amazed me! at the very least they could have had budget rega or project instead of vinyl killing Crowley rubbish. They had music playing but they only stream from Spotify too! I asked a member of staff about the brand of the streamer for fun and the member of staff really couldn't be arsed with his im better than you attitude because he works in rough trade.

In my opinion they are as bad as HMV and are taking the piss out of people that are getting into vinyl.It stinks as a big cash grab in my opinion. There are other good shops in Liverpool central that art taking the piss, Probe,Dig, the guy in the basement of Pop boutique etc.
 
Subharmonicon said:
The other day Rough Trade opened there new store in Liverpool so yesterday their 2nd day open I made a visit. I was left quite disappointed. Im going to mention a few observations from my 20mins and zero purchases On Friday. Rough Trade are firstly going on about how they are there for the love of vinyl and expertise in music, how vinyl is the best way to listen to music etc. So when I went to the Jazz section and notices apart from the obscene prices that 90% of their pressings were on DOL this was an eye opener. Firstly DOL pressings are unlicensed pressing and sound awful. Anyone going into the store buying these will be sorely disappointed and some may well be put off vinyl because of this. (sale price was £15) for a DOL pressing! the store also had some turntables on display for sale, Crowley suitcase decks and some really cheap audio technical models. For a shop thats all about vinyl and quality this amazed me! at the very least they could have had budget rega or project instead of vinyl killing Crowley rubbish. They had music playing but they only stream from Spotify too! I asked a member of staff about the brand of the streamer for fun and the member of staff really couldn't be arsed with his im better than you attitude because he works in rough trade.

In my opinion they are as bad as HMV and are taking the piss out of people that are getting into vinyl.It stinks as a big cash grab in my opinion. There are other good shops in Liverpool central that art taking the piss, Probe,Dig, the guy in the basement of Pop boutique etc.
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They couldn't fill the shelves without the likes of DOL.
 
Well I see that Juno for example has 106 DOL titles right now, with more than 1000 out of stock. Amazon pages of them. It must be a staple of a Jazz section in any shop right now unless you're doing used records too. I've never bought one myself.
 
Curious to have a look at Rough Trade Liverpool next time I’m over there. The pirate jazz pressings ate highly annoying. I refuse to deal in them on principle, if they come in with a collection I just give them back to the seller along with any bootlegs. I just don’t want to stock or sell them and I don’t care about ‘the law’ saying they are “legal”. They shouldn’t be.
 
We went into Rough Trade yesterday and could not believe how bad it was. First thing that hit me is all the Beatles books etc stashed at the front.

Liverpool is awash with The Beatles and the city does not need another shop peddling more of the same.

The walls were stacked with all the usual uninspiring reissues of heritage rock albums at ridiculously expensive prices. Does anyone ever need to hear Nirvana’s “Nevermind” ever again?

But what really ended us in Rough Trade yesterday was all the cheap tat in there. Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Rotten dolls? I kid you not. Bucket hats with Rough Trade logos on them, loads of cheaply pressed books, and cheap looking but expensively priced audio equipment.

This Rough Trade is even worse than HMV and FOPP. It felt like the last days of Virgin and Tower Records, when they were closing down and trying to off load the last of their cheap tat.

This Rough Trade is not aimed at the musically curious, but is a corporate cash cow. I will give Rough Trade the benefit of the doubt as they have not fully opened, but Probe Records and other independent record shops surely have nothing to fear from this Rough Trade and the horrible over priced tat it is selling.

Anyone who has shopped at Probe and Dig Vinyl etc will see straight through this version of Rough Trade. Those who run Probe, Dig etc love music from their heart and soul and pass on their amazing knowledge of music to people like me, and long may they continue.
 
I've given up looking in the jazz section in chain record shops - it's inevitably 90% DOL/Doxy/Waxtime pirates.

I suspect most punters don't really care - and when the alternative is £35-40 for a pukka reissue I can understand why they sell.
 
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