The 90s revival continues! WH Smith announces it's selling vinyl in shops again

Searching for a motion that vinyl's resurgence is only gaining momentum – and not waning by 33⅓, arsenic was reported a fewer days ago? Have astatine this, my LP-loving brothers and sisters: WH Smith is astir to commencement stocking vinyl successful 80 of its stores again. It's thing nan beloved British high-street staple stopped doing successful nan 90s, erstwhile it seemed that CDs were nan future…

As first reported by The Standard , WH Smith shop locations that will banal vinyl see Chester, Canterbury, Edinburgh, Gyle and York.

WH Smith – which began life arsenic a news vendor successful London's Little Grosvenor Street opened by Henry Walton Smith and his woman Anna, successful 1792 – first started trading vinyl albums successful nan 1950s. Interestingly, nan institution remained nether nan ownership of nan Smith family until nan 1970s and (according to Wikipedia) nan past nan family personnel near nan committee successful 1996.

Circling backmost to nan vinyl, why is WH Smith doing this now? In December of past year, nan British Phonographic Industry stated that vinyl income had risen for nan 16th consecutive twelvemonth – and amended yet, figures showed income were increasing "at their fastest complaint this decade". If you for illustration acold difficult stats, nan study showed an 11.7 per cent summation to 5.9 cardinal units successful 2023 – a important summation connected nan 2.3 per cent emergence nan erstwhile year, successful 2022.

Smells for illustration teen spirit…

I know, it's for illustration announcing Woolworths is astir to reopen, complete pinch dedicated prime 'n' operation aisle. Only it'll beryllium maine (ripped high-waist jeans; freshly-crimped hairsbreadth piled connected apical of my caput – not dissimilar Felicity Kendall's successful my lead image) filling my trolley pinch 12-inch LPs alternatively than abstracted bags of toffee bon-bons and fizzy watermelon slices.

What'll beryllium Top of nan Pops successful Smith's vinyl section? I'll return a chaotic conjecture astatine Taylor Swift's 11th workplace album, The Tortured Poets Department, Oasis' re-issued The Masterplan and Fontaines D.C.'s newest Romance for starters.

Want to get connected nan stacks-of-wax travel but don't person a intends to rotation plates conscionable yet? Our prime of nan best turntables is simply a awesome spot to start, including one-box plug 'n' play beginner options aliases thing much semipermanent – spot besides our guideline to nan best stereo speakers.

All that's needed to complete my retro-escapist audio travel is for Apple to commencement trading my beloved iPod Classic again. But possibly I'll do arsenic my US workfellow suggests and secure my Clairol-crimped hairsbreadth pinch an iPod Shuffle instead, earlier heading down to WH Smith for a crate rummage… happy hunting!

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