A beloved stationery and bookseller is set to make a major change for the first time in 30 years, bringing back a product it hasn’t stocked since the 1990s.
WHSmith has confirmed that it’ll be bringing back vinyl to 80 of its high street stores, connecting a new generation of music fans with physical records amid a recent uptick in popularity, with artists including Taylor Swift and Oasis releasing LPs on vinyl.
Now, the stores that are set to bring records back to the iconic high street chain include Canterbury, Chester, Edinburgh Gyle and York.
The brand first started selling vinyl in the 1950s but phased it out in the 1990s after CDs – which first hit the market in the late 1970s – overtook them in popularity.
In 2023, sales of vinyl increased by 11.7% to almost six million, marking a rise for the 16th consecutive year, as per data from the British Phonographic Industry.
These days, however, owning vinyl has taken on a slightly more layered meaning.
During the heyday of record ownership, many music lovers bought and owned records mainly out of necessity.
If they wanted to listen to their favourite artist outside of the record booth at their local store (wherein they could select the album and listen to it with headphones in something akin to a telephone box), then they needed to purchase it.
Nowadays, the industry has largely been shaped by streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, with streamers paying a monthly fee for unlimited access to their favourite tunes. And, as these services have grown, the consumption of records, CDs and cassettes has largely diminished.
But now, as exemplified by the fact that WHSmith has decided to bring back its vinyl stocks, records mean something else to music fans. Yes, for many its about sound quality and supporting smaller businesses, but increasingly it’s about owning something physical rather than just pressing play on an app.
Likewise, there’s growing interest in building a collection, with many artists using record sales as a way for fans to access the pre-sale if they buy their latest album on pre-order, for example.
The announcement had record fans elated, with @marcusa joking on X, formerly Twitter: ‘where are those WHSmith record tokens I got from my aunty that I forgot to use?’
Over on Facebook, Dino Vescera described the news as ‘welcome,’ reflecting on their past running the sounds department in a WHSmith store and adding that they hoped ‘this will boost WHSmiths’ name, footfall and takings.’
‘Some good news at last,’ Jack Flint penned. ‘Back to buying the real thing.’
Before the announcement, people were long reminiscing about the good old days – when they could pop down to WHSmith on a Saturday and spend their pocket money on a record.
‘Originally bought on vinyl [in] January 1979 with Christmas present record at WHSmith in Woolwich!’ @handronicus101 wrote on X, accompanied by a picture of Queen II.
‘The record section in WHSmith in Carlisle in the late 1970s was a place of wonder, but the official Star Wars soundtrack was beyond my boyish budget,’ @frontier_vinyl added, while @Eddy_Grant noted that ‘this is how we used to buy music in the 80s. How things have changed.’
‘I’m sure there are many customers out there who remember spending hours in record shops browsing the latest vinyl LPs and the artistic record covers,’ says Emma Smyth, commercial director of WHSmith’s high street operations.
‘To me it’s no surprise that vinyl is growing in popularity again, and we are very excited to be bringing back record selections to more than 80 different stores across the UK for both seasoned fans and new listeners alike.’
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