Schoolkids Records participated in Record Store Day for the fourth time April 16, attracting hundreds of customers.
Record Store Day is an annual event that celebrates independently owned records stores on the third Saturday of every April. More than 700 stores in the United States acknowledge Record Store Day, founded in 2007.
Schoolkids, located at 2114 Hillsborough Street, is Raleigh’s only independent record store. It had exclusive Record Store Day releases, downloadable coupons, in-store performances, a drawing for Hopscotch Music Festival tickets and donations from artists and record labels to give away to customers.
“This is our biggest day,” Eric Tschudi, a part-time worker at Schoolkids, said. “When we opened at 10:00 a.m., we had more than 150 people in line. Some began to line up at 5:30 a.m. and the line was outside until 1:30 p.m.”
When the store opened its doors, the line meandered past Maiden Lane. Light rain and frequent blasts of wind did not deter the crowd. Excited talk filled the air and strangers held conversations with each other about what he or she was hoping to buy.
“It’s a cool event. People wear shirts supporting vinyl and independent stores. I saw one girl with ‘Best Buy Sucks’ written on hers,” Tschudi said. “Labels respond by putting out reissues and exclusive albums. It shows dedication of both the labels and the fans. Each has really embraced Record Store Day.”
Michael Jones, a sophomore in history, arrived at Schoolkids 15 minutes before the store opened for his third time participating in Record Store Day.
“It’s really a day to celebrate great local music stores because they’re an important part of the culture of a city,” Jones said. “The independently-owned stores have overwhelming competition on a daily basis. It’s nice that we have a day to remember the value of them.”
The staff of Schoolkids decided to put a limit on purchasing special releases to prevent “flippers,” a person who buys bulk of an album to re-sell it for profit.
”Because of the limited numbers of copies and high demand for them, every person could only buy one copy of each item,” Tschudi said.
Schoolkids sold 850 new and used LPs Saturday, in comparison to 20 sold the day before. Dave Stele, a part-time worker at Schoolkids, said the store earned about $17,000.
Radical Classical entertained customers from a small stage in the store. Dexter Romweber Duo also performed later in the day. The Raveonettes, scheduled to play at 4:00 p.m., had to cancel due to weather implications.
Jones, whose first Record Store Day experience was at Manifest Discs & Tapes in Charlotte, liked that Schoolkids offered a wide range of vinyl records.
“I’m surprised, but glad, to see so many people care about records. It’s a great local presence,” Brian Geisinger, a junior in business administration and communication, said.
Geisinger joined a friend for their first time coming to Record Store Day to “see what it was all about.”
Some of the releases for Record Store Day included a live Pink Floyd LP, a Flaming Lips box set and Phish’s “Two Soundchecks,” a limited edition 7-inch, which sold out within five minutes of opening the store doors. Beach Boys also released a 78rpm vinyl album, which is sped up more than the modern-day record. Most record players, according to Tschudi, don’t play at that speed any more.
“The younger generation is losing the need for CDs. They’re a good means to transfer music, but I think their value is lesser than vinyl,” Tschudi said.
“CDs are okay, but you don’t have that experience of putting the needle on the record and enjoying the cover art,” Jones said. “It is interesting that in the digital age, we still want the physical experience.”
