Quick: Which Retail Chain Sells More Than Any Other on the Planet?
Think about it before you answer. All the big chains of the past–Tower, Virgin, Camelot, Sam Goody, Sam the Record Man, et al–have all disappeared. HMV has consolidated global operations and is nowhere near the size it used to be. It can’t be Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target or other big box stores. So who sells more vinyl than anyone else in the known universe?
The answer? Urban Outfitters.
From BuzzFeed Music:
“Music is very, very important to the Urban customer… in fact, we are the world’s number one vinyl seller,” Calvin Hollinger, the company’s chief administrative officer, said at a meeting with analysts yesterday. He explained that instead of having thousands of vinyl albums online, the company has a system in place that lets it seamlessly offer inventory from roughly 100 vendors without actually owning that inventory, a model it might use with Anthropologie’s home goods.
Talk about capitalizing on a niche, huh? Read on.
You’d think they would spend a little more on proper display shelving, then. The Chinook store here in Calgary is a PITA to browse – too many records jammed into each section, and an entire row at floor level. I realize we middle-agers are not their target demographic, but still…