Urban Outfitters Is Now The Number One Seller Of Vinyl In The World
An Urban Outfitters store (image via Ottawa Isn't Dead).In case you didn't know, vinyl is cool again, and if you needed proof, consider this-the world's number one seller of records is none other than hipster mecca Urban Outfitters.
Yes, that's right, the often-offensive clothing retailer is outselling even Amazon when it comes to LPs. So far, the company hasn't announced exactly how many records they do sell, but one can assume it's a pretty sizeable figure. In 2012, independent record stores were collectively responsible for 64% of all vinyl sales in the US.
On a call with industry analysts this past week, Urban Outfitter's Chief Administrative Office Calvin Hollinger announced that the company was the biggest seller of vinyl on the planet, saying 'Music is very, very important to the Urban customer...in fact, we are the world's number one vinyl seller.'
To be fair, Urban Outfitters didn't have a lot of competition when it came to leading the pack, as not many chains carry vinyl. Just last year, both Target and Whole Foods decided to jump on the trend and start offering shelf space for select titles, but sales aren't significant yet.
The company explains that part of it's success in the vinyl game comes from their innovative stocking strategy. Urban Outfitters doesn't actually buy the records it sells, but rather 'rents' shelf space-both physically and digitally-to a team of over 100 vendors, which helps the retailer maximize profit potential while giving an unmatched opportunity to artists looking to push their LPs.
For the past decade or so, collective sales of music have been going down. The number of CDs purchased plummets every year, and while digital track and album sales were touted for a long time as the industry's saviour, even those have started to drop. In fact, last year was the first time since iTunes appeared a decade ago that total copies sold lost footing.
In complete contrast, vinyl sales have been soaring lately. In 2013, 6.1 million LPs were purchased in the US-the largest number since 1991, when SoundScan began accurately counting music sales.
Just this year, former White Stripes frontman Jack White set a record (pun intended) for the most copies of an LP sold in one week when his latest album Lazaretto managed to move 40,000 copies. The title shipped 138,000 copies total, with vinyl representing almost 30% of those.
What's particularly odd about Urban Outfitters leading the pack when it comes to vinyl sales is the company's main demographic: it's not who you'd expect to be buying lots of records. Instead of baby boomers who grew up on black wax, it's a much younger crowd. In fact, the company is actually worried that their shoppers are skewing too young, recently sharing that they've dipped below their ideal 18-28 demographic and now sell to too many high school-aged children.
The fact that Urban Outfitters sells so much vinyl just goes to show that for many who are buying, it isn't about utility, it's about a lifestyle. There is no shortage of ways to listen to music these days, and those that are coming out in droves to buy-millennials and those slightly older than that-are those most familiar with the myriad of options. Many who buy a vinyl album today likely also have quite a few collections in their iTunes library, but they are looking for the experience of buying, owning, and playing a record, something no digital file can replicate.
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