Rough Trade picks Nottingham for first regional store

Independent music retailer Rough Trade claims its Nottingham store will help inspire the evolution of music retail and be the model for domestic expansion.

The retailer hopes the new store will introduce “an inspiring evolution of music retail” and claims it will evolve continuously in the style of its Brick Lane store Rough Trade East.

The regional store roll-out will be handled by Lawrence Montgomery, who is currently managing director of Bristol independent music retailer Rise Music.

Rough Trade co-owner Stephen Godfroy said Montgomery gives the company “valuable regional UK perspective and an abundance of energy at precisely the right moment”.

The retailer opened its original Rough Trade store in West London in 1976 and has delivered double-digit like-for-like growth since opening Rough Trade East in 2007.

It opened its first international store in New York in the autumn of 2012.

Godfroy added: “In response to the limitations of screen-based retail, our stores have become cultural hotspots, particularly for younger, format-savvy generations, who are as likely to play vinyl records to a room full of friends as they are to listen to a track on their phone.

“City centre retail is often overshadowed by the bar and restaurant sector in terms of providing places of communal vibrancy, so we hope to liven things up a little by giving innovative artists and independent thinkers a place to unite, creating places that aren’t afraid to experiment and rattle expectations.”

Rough Trade has declined to reveal the cities where it plans further stores.