"The shop smells of stale smoke, damp, and plastic dustcovers, it's narrow and dingy and dirty and overcrowded… this is what record shops should look like, and only Phil Collins fans bother with those that look as clean and as wholesome as a suburban Habitat' - High Fidelity - Nick Hornby
Support your local record shop!
The Coalition of UK record shops has been set up by 26 of the leading independent stores from across the UK. We believe our specialist catalogue and extensive knowledge is as relevant in our internet driven age as it ever was. We are working with all major distribution companies and labels to deliver exclusive Coalition product to you, our valued customers.
Joining forces has enabled us to secure competitive pricing on new releases and also means we can support new and upcoming artists as well as your old favourites. We will be offering a host of exclusive product including:
180gm vinyl re-issue program - Two classic albums per month will get the 'Coalition' treatment and be repressed in a one off edition of 500 only, exclusively for Coalition shops and their loyal customers, and with a wealth of material to choose from this means that many long out of print albums will eventually see the light of day.
Exclusive bonus discs - Buy a Coalition recommended title and get a free CD! This could be anything from a label sampler to artist-specific exclusive material.
Label campaigns - Every two months Coalition shops will pick one of their favourite labels and run a countrywide special offer on selected titles.
Free stuff - We all like freebies and we are sure you do too! We have already started asking labels for free posters and badges of Coalition titles to give away with every purchase.
Exclusive 7' singles - We have already had a few exclusive ltd singles that you may have missed out on and we aim to get more and more on our favourite format.
We appreciate your business and believe that the traditional bricks and mortar record shop is here to stay and can happily live alongside the internet for many years to come. That is why all of the staunchly independent shops listed here have decided to come together and celebrate the future of the humble record shop, and by offering lots of independent exclusives we hope you will want to join us.
The Coalition of unfeasibly good record shops.
June 2008.