24 MusicWeek 01.06.12 RETAIL
www.musicweek.com
Co-owner: Jack Rollo KRISTINA RECORDS
Give us some background on the store... We opened in July last year. We sell a mixture of new and secondhand stuff from a range of genres, stocking mostly vinyl, apart from the odd tape and video here and there. There are three of us in total.
We all worked together at a fairly famous - or notorious – London record shop. We learned our trade there and felt like we wanted to set something up on our own.
A lot of indie record store owners are talking about hard times at the moment. What made you want to set up shop now? We all feel that there is a market in London and we’re trying to think about it a little bit differently compared to some other shops. We’re trying to create something a bit more like a shop in America, Scandinavia or Japan where it’s a smaller
selection, more curated, a bit nicer in terms of design, more user-friendly. Vinyl sales are definitely
growing and I think it’s all about location as well. Where we are in East London feels like a centre for music, making music, putting on gigs and club nights and things like that. We’re in the right place for those people.
How has business been since you opened the shop? Good. I’ve been pleasantly surprised. We’ve worked in retail for years but it’s the first time we’ve run a business, so seeing it from that end is different. But sales are good, people seem to like us and word seems to be spreading. It might seem like a wild
decision to just go and set up a shop but if we didn’t do it we’d be kicking ourselves and so far, touch wood, it looks like we’re being proved right.
INTERNET vs HUMAN
Did you participate in Record Store Day this year? We got some of the product in, which was good. We tried to get the stuff that was relevant to us mainly, because there were a lot of releases this year. We also recently bought a good collection of secondhand stuff so we saved it and put it out on the day. We had DJs all day as well
and bargain records that we don’t usually have. It was really busy, which was really nice to see. I think a lot of people went to Rough Trade but we had a lot people come, hang out and stay all day.
Are there other things that could be done to help indies? I think there are lots of things that would be nice but it’s also
about us using our own initiative, doing in-stores and things like that. A lot of shops do that kind of thing.
“I don’t feel like I’m part of the big music industry. The records that we sell are mostly put out by bedroom operations.” JACK ROLLO, KRISTINA RECORDS
Record Store Day is great. It’s odd seeing a lot of people that you don’t normally see one day a year because we are here the other 364, but just getting people in the store is great. Maybe something more on the independent side of it would be good because everything we do is from independent labels and small runs, in terms of new records. It’s unfortunate that
44 Stoke Newington Road, London N16 7XJ t 02072542130
wkristinarecords.com
the big music industry is jumping on the trend of putting out records at really expensive prices. It was all over Record Store Day this year. But at the same time people can join in or not join in and for us it was really good.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be? I don’t feel like I’m part of the big music industry. The new records that we sell are mostly put out by bedroom operations, people putting out records because they really want to. At the very most we have stuff from big indie labels like Domino. It would be great if all the people who were in it just to make money went away and those in it for the love stayed.
This week’s High Street Hero Jack Rollo takes on his digital rivals ...
WE SAID WE LIKED...
AMAZON RECOMMENDED... RICHARD HAWLEY Standing At The Sky’s Edge PAUL BUCHANAN Mid Air
JACK RECOMMENDED...
FRANK SINATRA Watertown
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