Rough Trade shop • New York • USA

From Wikipedia:

Rough Trade is a music retailer headquartered in Nottingham, England. It operates an online store and a chain of record shops in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany.

The first Rough Trade shop was opened on February 23, 1976 by Geoff Travis in the Ladbroke Grove district of West London. Travis reportedly took the name from the Canadian art punk/new wave band Rough Trade. In 1978, the shop spawned Rough Trade Records, which later became the label of bands from The Smiths to The Libertines. In 1982, the two separated and the shop remains an independent entity from the label, although links between the two are strong. At the same time, the shop moved from its original location on Kensington Park Road round the corner to Talbot Road. In 1988, a shop opened in Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden. At various times there were also shops in San Francisco (on Grant St., then Sixth Street, then Haight Street and finally 3rd and Townsend Streets), Tokyo and Paris. They were eventually closed following the rise of music sales on the internet.

In 2007, the chain began to grow again, opening Rough Trade East in Dray Walk, Brick Lane, in East London. There are now 9 shops worldwide with 7 shops in the UK, one in New York City, USA, and one in Berlin, Germany.

Rough Trade’s holding company is jointly owned by XL Recordings, a division of Beggars Group and sister label to Rough Trade Records, and Matthieu Pigasse. Its directors include Pigasse and Beggars Group founder Martin Mills.

Rough Trade has been accused by other record shops of abusing its dominant market position, for example by gaining using its links to record labels to negotiate more exclusive releases. […]

In May 2026, as part of the promotional campaign for his forthcoming album “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane“, Paul McCartney was interviewed by NBC’s Willie Geist at the Rough Trade record shop in New York City.

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