applestump record store day steve-cook-music

A record store in Nantwich is hosting the town’s first Record Store Day next month, writes Courtney Davies.

Applestump Records, on Barker Street, will participate in the annual national day on April 23.

It is the 15th year of Record Store Day which is designed to promote independent record shops and allow customers to get their hands on limited titles.

Steve Cook has taken part in Record Store Day previously as a customer.

But this time he is hosting it at Applestump records.

He said: “It was an initiative put together by Entertainment Retailers Association and they put on this day, and all the record labels release very limited-edition pressings of vinyl records, different colours and different formats that you can only buy on that day in a record shop.

“The idea was people would all go to a record shop to get these records and it would put money in the tills of little independent record stores.”

Applestump Records, Barker Street  - Record Store Day
Applestump Records, Barker Street

Applestump Records began as an online business in March 2021 and moved into their Barker Street premises in June.

Steve said: “The great thing about Nantwich is it is a very community driven town and what we have noticed is how people are so keen to support what we do.

“So, by getting involved and coming down into the shop you’ll be meeting loads of like-minded people, you’ll be able to get your hands on all these very rare records that will only be available on the day.”

The store isn’t allowed to open before 8am and Steve will be providing a goodie bag for the first few ‘early birds’ in the queue.

As a nationwide event, the store must abide by certain rules.

These include not opening before 8am, not being able to reserve or accept pre-orders for stock, not being allowed to put them on their website, and customers can only buy one copy each.

applestump records music

In preparation for the day, Steve said: “I want people to come into the shop and there will be loads of stock for everybody to choose from, but I’m not allowed to take any pre orders.

“It’s a fine line between not buying too much because I’ll get stuck with it later on in the year and can’t sell it, but then having enough to keep people interested and having a bit of the wow factor when they come in.

“I’ve printed off all the lists and I’ve made them into PDFs and I’ve set up mailing lists.

“So all of our regular customers have got the lists and I’ve encouraged people to go through them and let me know what they would like to see in the shop as kind of a wish list, and even though I can’t reserve these for them, they can influence what will be in the shop by telling me the kind of thing they are after.”

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