Our Price share more details of their plan to relaunch iconic music store
Our Price have shared more details about their plans to relaunch the iconic UK music store and plans to grow the business in 2024.
The classic music store was a popular chain of record stores across the UK and Ireland, which launched in the 1971 and became a famous presence on high streets across the country up until the early ‘00s.
Despite once having over 300 branches on UK high streets and being named the second-largest retailer of records and tapes in the ‘80s, the company saw a gradual decline over the early ‘00s and was ultimately forced to close its doors in 2004.
Now, 20 years on, the brand announced that it would be relaunching today (April 30) with an online store containing 20,000 vinyl, merchandise and a range of hi-fi and audio equipment.
To celebrate the launch, Our Price have shared more details about their plans to return, as well as what music lovers can expect to see in the coming months.
“Sadly, like many institutions, Our Price faced the winds of change, and the unstoppable force of online retailing,” it began. “Yet, in a lucky turn of events and out of the ashes of nostalgia, entrepreneur, musician, writer and dreamer Paul Harris, along with two DJ friends, acquired the Our Price domain at an online auction. Despite initial setbacks due to trademark limitations, perseverance prevailed, culminating in 2021 with the purchase of all of the original UK and EU textual and visual Our Price Records trademarks.”
“Today, the brand embarks on a new chapter, poised to reclaim its proper place in the hearts of music and vinyl lovers of all ages. Leveraging strategic partnerships with leading suppliers in the UK’s fast growing vinyl distribution ecosystem, Our Price prepares for its highly anticipated rebirth on April 30, marking the 20 year anniversary of its “long silent sleep,” it added, also highlighting how the relaunch will come as a both “nod to its past” and “with an eye on the future and embracing innovation”.
Later in the update, the owners revealed that the next few months will see the vinyl range expand to 100,000, and see “a growing range of curated HiFi equipment including boomboxes and CD walkmans” added. An “AI-based browsing assistant” will also be available “to enhance the shopping experience” of visitors.
“In business terms, Our Price has set itself an ambitious goal, aiming to capture 20 per cent of the £32million UK online vinyl sales by 2026. As momentum builds, the directors envision expanding into franchise based brick-and-mortar retail, featuring coffee shops, cosy sound booths and inviting lounges; becoming a real world destination for friends and musical exploration for a generation of Millenials and Z’ers who missed out on what was a genuinely uplifting cultural, musical and social experience,” the update added.
“Our Price is a brand with heart, heritage, nostalgia and bags of cool cred and we believe that with over 10 years of consistent high growth,” it explained. “UK vinyl sales experienced an 11.7 per cent year-on-year rise to 5.9million units and an estimated value of £120m at retail (of which £32m is online) the timing is perfect to reboot this much loved and much missed icon of the music industry.”
To close, CEO and Founder Paul Harris shared a statement. “We’re a bunch of old music enthusiasts reviving a much loved brand – we’re not a big funded corp, so while we would have preferred to launch with half-a-millions products, we have had to take a different approach and grow organically, which means adding new lines and brands every month,” he said. “However we see this steady unveiling process as part of our customer’s experience. We want them to grow with us and see this progress – feel part of it – influence it.”
You can check out the newly-launched Our Price online shop here.
News of the brand’s comeback comes after the number of independent record shops in the UK was recently reported as hitting a 10-year high, according to industry findings.
What’s more, it was reported last December that sales of vinyl records in the UK had hit their highest level since 1990.
It marked the 16th consecutive year of rising sales, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which also added that the vinyl market had increased more than four times as fast.
According to the BPI’s analysis, the “ever-rising demand for vinyl albums and other music releases on physical format” reflects a “thriving market for music on the high street”, citing the popularity of independent record stores and the success of shops like HMV, which reopened its flagship store on London’s Oxford Street last year.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
