Local vinyl record businesses see sizable surge in sales during Christmas week

RAPID CITY, S.D. — It’s been a record year for the vinyl.

It’s the trend that shined through for the old way of listening to music as nearly two million records were sold nationally in the week of December 24. A record in and of its own.

Local stores like Black Hills Vinyl and Ernie November cashed in, but the rise in record sales didn’t necessarily come as a surprise, since both businesses said that vinyl says have been increasing over the years.

“We’ve definitely had a jump this year in records, but we’ve seen it for the last 10 years; creeping up every year, except this year it would be an exception where it was drastic,” said Keith Coombes, the Manager of Ernie November. “We more than doubled our record sales in the month of December.”

A global pandemic is actually helping these businesses in a time where people weren’t able to see their favorite performers live in action.

“We grew from last year, but like I said we’ve seen that every year since we’ve owned the store,” said Jennifer Calabrese, a Co-Owner of Black Hills Vinyl. “I think this year especially, with people not being able to go out, you know, it’s an activity that you can do in your home when you can’t do much, and since you can’t go see live music, you’re wanting to support your artists and this is a good way to do it.”

Those with more time to burn now have an engaging hobby that develops into a collection.

“A lot of people are rediscovering the fact how fun records really are,” Coombes said. “With a record, you have to put the needle down and kinda go through the entire side of a record, you discover different songs that you don’t have.

A trend showing people continuing to use music to get through trying times.