RETAILER WH Smith has announced it will sell vinyls again for the first time in more than 30 years.
Stores across the UK will re-introduce vinyls to shelves.
WH Smith said it will stock vinyl in 80 high street shops as it looks to capitalise on its surging popularity among a new generation of music fans.
Vinyl sales have jumped in recent years as the format has come back in fashion which was helped by new releases by artists such as Taylor Swift, who recently announced that her 11th studio album – The Tortured Poets Department – will be made available on vinyl while Oasis have also re-issued The Masterplan on vinyl.
In 2023, sales of vinyl jumped 11.7% to nearly six million, rising for the 16th year running, according to data from the British Phonographic Industry.
Emma Smyth, commercial director of WH Smith’s high street operations, said: “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.
“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.”
The store locations that will stock vinyl include Canterbury, Chester, Edinburgh Gyle and York, the group said.
WH Smith first began selling vinyl albums in the 1950s with records becoming a key product category for the retailer.
After the popularity of vinyls waned because of the introduction of CDs, WH Smith stopped selling them in the 1990s.
WH Smith customers reminisce over vinyl section 30 years ago
One customer took to X, formerly Twitter, to share: "Goodness! So many memories of the record department inside WH Smith. Not least because it's where I bought 'The Cutter' 12" by Echo and the Bunnymen."
Another said: "Ha! 11 year-old me wandered in to WH Smith with my birthday money and wandered out later on with Deep Purple’s Machine Head under my arm, and two singles - Bowie’s Life On Mars? and Yesterday Once More by The Carpenters! Eclectic tastes!"
The move is the latest by WH Smith to boost its ranges and re-energise its store estate after it launched plans to open Toys ‘R’ Us concessions within 76 stores by the end of the year, bringing back the retail brand to the high street.
