Following seven successful years in Williamsburg with an inaugural location on North Ninth Street, Rough Trade NYC opened its first Manhattan store, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
The store provides community and fan bases a place of vinyl culture pilgrimage with not just a cutting-edge music retail experience — marrying the romance of analogue with the intelligence of technology, but also a music event partnership with Rockefeller Center. Aiming to commence later this year, Rockefeller Center and Rough Trade together will curate live public events with a quarterly series that will take place at the iconic Rainbow Room in addition to outdoor events at Rockefeller Plaza.
“Following the impact of COVID-19, Rough Trade’s decision to relocate reflects a wider reimagination of cities worldwide,” said Co-Owner Stephen Godfroy. “Manhattan has a glorious history of great record stores. Now there’s an exciting present as well. The opportunities afforded by the pandemic in the reconfiguration of central city districts have brought us, counter-intuitively, to the heart of New York, an area barren of record stores for years. But Rough Trade’s instinct has always been to surprise!”
Founded in London in 1976, Rough Trade amassed a loyal patronage with the burgeoning DIY artist community and then later on the A&R personnel from record labels, largely thanks to its focus on new music. Its first New York City location, in Williamsburg in 2013, was a giant ex-warehouse building that used shipping containers as interior spaces and featured avenue, café, pop-up activations.
The new location is similar to other Rough Trade stores with its focus on new and limited-edition vinyl, with expert staff on hand to share their passion for music. Rough Trade will co-develop live events that will showcase new talent as well as more familiar legends. Rough Trade will also host frequent artist meet-and-greet signing events both in-store and at locations throughout the Center’s campus for fans to enjoy.
