John Lewis has teamed up with Rough Trade to bring a specially selected range of vinyl LPs to its stores.
It follows a real boom period for turntables in the UK.
It's been a week of interesting partnerships: Post Malone with the remaining members of Nirvana; Robyn with David Byrne; and John Lewis with Rough Trade, the famous record shop and label.
While that latter partnership won't get quite as much attention as the pop and rock collaborations, it means you'll be able to pick up some vinyl when you're browsing fancy furniture, homewares or designer clothes.
John Lewis is bringing vinyl to its shops for one simple reason: it's popular. The firm already sells close to 20 different turntables and says that sales are up 17% compared to five years ago. So now John Lewis won't just sell you the turntable, it'll sell you some records to play on it too.
What records can you buy at John Lewis?
According to the retailer, the range is a "carefully curated selection of old and modern classics that pay homage to Rough Trade's past".
The initial range of albums includes:
- Lana Del Rey, Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
- Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
- Marvin Gaye, What's Going On
- Nirvana, Nevermind
- Radiohead, In Rainbows
- The xx, xx
- Mazzy Star, So Tonight That I Might See
- Nick Drake, Pink Moon
- Fontaines D.C., Romance
- Cocteau Twins, Heaven Or Las Vegas
- Big Thief, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
- John Coltrane, A Love Supreme
- Pulp, Different Class
- Sampha, Process
- Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly
John Lewis isn't the only high street retailer to bring vinyl back – in October 2024, WH Smith announced the return of vinyl to 80 of its stores after a thirty-year absence. And in the mid-2010s, both Sainsbury's and Tesco beat them to it, with selected LPs available in larger stores.
As we've seen with other retailers gently embracing vinyl, the John Lewis catalogue isn't massive. However, it's been carefully chosen to cover most bases from contemporary pop to more classic cuts.
I'm hoping that given the price many retailers currently charge for LPs, John Lewis is going to bring its Never Knowingly Undersold policy to these picks.
