Rough Trade opening its biggest UK store in Liverpool

Rough Trade is set to open its biggest UK store yet in Liverpool, it's been announced. 

This will see the iconic independent record store brand open its sixth overall branch here; with three in London, as well as stores in Bristol and Nottingham. 

While an opening date for Rough Trade Liverpool has yet to be set, we can expect it to open its doors later this year. It will be located at 50-56 Hanover Street in Liverpool city centre and will sit at 6,500 square feet. 

"We are excited to grow our UK presence with a store in Liverpool. The city has such a rich musical heritage as well as a vibrant scene right now which we hope to honour and represent in the best way we can," Rough Trade managing director Lawrence Montgomery said in a statement.

"The scale (both size and ambition) of the store shows our commitment and investment to the city. We can’t wait to delight customers in the record store and venue in due course."

Only growing in stature over the years, Rough Trade stores have been a hub of activity for local music scenes, as well as destination hangouts for acts on the release schedule, given that 2023 marked the 16th consecutive year of growth of vinyl sales in the UK. 

To many acts, vinyl sales are incredibly important to boosts their albums status in the Official Albums Chart, and Rough Trade stores regularly play host to fan meet-and-greets from acts all vying for chart success on their prospective rollouts. 

And this new Liverpool store is not all. Rough Trade also apparently have ambitions for a burgeoning international growth too. Its first store outside the UK, situated in Berlin, will also open in 2024. 

Image: David Corio/Redferns