John Lewis to start selling vinyl records this month – and it has pretty great taste

A woman flicking through stacks of vinyl records in a Rough Trade shop.
(Image credit: Rough Trade)

Fancy a classic jazz album with your next wardrobe? How about some post-punk with your garden furniture, or vintage grunge to go with that new dressing gown? This could be your next shopping trip, as John Lewis is going to start selling vinyl this month.

The retailer has announced a partnership with industry stalwart Rough Trade to sell vinyl records both in its department stores and online.

Its initial selection is pretty great, a nice mix of old and new. It includes Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Romance by Fontaines D.C., Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief, Nirvana's Nevermind and A Love Supreme by John Coltrane. The selection pays homage to Rough Trade's past.

John Lewis says that sales of its turntables have risen 17 per cent compared to five years ago, so clearly the middle classes aren't immune to the vinyl revival. The retailer has increased its range of record players by 46 per cent in that time – it currently stocks the Pro-Ject T1 and the five-star Technics SL-1500C, among others.

John Lewis hasn't said how many of its department stores will stock vinyl, but among them will be Peter Jones, Bluewater, Cheadle and Edinburgh.

The retailer follows WH Smith, which announced in October that it would start selling vinyl again more than 30 years after abandoning the format.

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Joe Svetlik

Joe has been writing about tech for 20 years, first on staff at T3 magazine, then in a freelance capacity for Stuff, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine (now defunct), Men's Health, GQ, The Mirror, Trusted Reviews, TechRadar and many more. His specialities include all things mobile, headphones and speakers that he can't justifying spending money on.

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