NewsSaturday Deluxe / 22 October 2016
SDE has just drunk five litres of undiluted ‘blackcurrant squash’ and isn’t in the mood for any monkey business.
Let’s get the show on the road and deluxe the ‘heck’ out of this Saturday morning. Coming up…. an irate, Macca-hating Phil Collins, why Sainsbury’s mistake a bit of cardboard for a ‘record shop’, and Kate Bush’s live version of King of the Mountain in full…
“He’s little and he likes The Beatles!”. McCartney insults Collins. “He’s not worth it!” says peacemaker Townshend.
Phil Collins revealed this week that he is sick and tired of sitting back and listening to McCartney’s clap-trap.
With a book to promote Phil Collins has revealed that he fell out with Paul McCartney back in 2002 when both men were performing at the Buckingham Palace party.
According to Collins, “McCartney came up with [his then-wife] Heather Mills and I had a first edition of ‘The Beatles,’ by Hunter Davies, and I said, ‘Hey, Paul, do you mind signing this for me?'”
“And he said, ‘Oh, Heather, our little Phil’s a bit of a Beatles fan.’ And I thought, ‘You f–k, you f–k.’ Never forgot it.”
“But he has this thing when he’s talking to you, where he makes you feel [like], ‘I know this must be hard for you because I’m a Beatle. I’m Paul McCartney and it must be very hard for you to actually be holding a conversation with me.'”
The tabloids have been gleefully reporting this 14 year feud with the ex-Beatle although whether Paul is even aware of this ‘feud’ is not known. Of course, Phil was famously in the audience watching The Beatles play in their 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night and at that time he was just 13. So technically he was ‘little’ and clearly a Beatles fan, so the accuracy of Paul’s statement cannot be faulted…
None of the journalists reporting this story mentioned that Collins’ played on Paul McCartney’s 1986 album Press To Play on a track called…. wait for it…. Angry. Phil can probably relate to the lyrics: “I’m sick and tired of sitting back and listening to all of your clap-trap…. I’m just angry looking at you”. Here’s the song
First play of King of the Mountain from Kate Bush’s Before The Dawn
After the 40-second clip was teased on Ken Bruce’s BBC Radio 2 show on Thursday, BBC 6 Music was given the exclusive and played the whole version of Kate Bush‘s King of the Mountain as played live in 2014 for Before The Dawn. The internet, being the internet, the clip is now easily available to listen to online, so here’s a soundcloud link, below (I’d advise skipping the wordy and gushing 2 minute intro!)
Read more about the 3CD and 4LP vinyl release of Before The Dawn.
A record shop in 2016
There used to be an HMV in Islington, London just across the road from Sainsbury’s but that was closed down years ago. I was never particularly impressed with the stock they carried or how they marginalised music for DVDs and blu-rays, but that was HEAVEN compared to Sainsbury’s idea of a ‘record store’.
I should have known better, but I ‘popped in’ again on Thursday morning on the off-chance that the Liverpool Road branch would have any copies of the Frankie Goes To Hollywood Welcome To The Pleasuredome, white vinyl limited editions. Predictably they didn’t and the image above shows the totality of their stock at that time. It’s not so much a ‘record store’ as a fire hazard. Sainsbury’s CARE so much about vinyl records that they aren’t willing to find them any proper shelf space and just stack them in this hideous cardboard rack which sits protruding into an isle and gets in everyone’s way.
The music selection is fairly safe with selections from David Bowie, Mike Oldfield, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. I asked a staff member why the store hadn’t received any of the limited editions (Jethro Tull Aqualung on green vinyl, Frankie on white vinyl, and a couple of Madonna coloured vinyl pressings) and I was told that they get what they are given. Despite being an enormous shop, she suggested that because Liverpool Road was one of the ‘smaller stores’ (!) that’s why they perhaps haven’t got the other stock, adding that they may well be ‘losing’ the vinyl soon anyway, due to space issues.
I had previously entered into a twitter dialogue with Sainsbury’s about the lack of these coloured vinyl pressings in a store that stocked vinyl. The staff member promised to put a ‘product request’ in for me, for Frankie. Yesterday I got an email which read as follows:
“Thanks for getting in touch to ask if we could stock Fleetwood Mac – Rumours Vinyl at your nearby Sainsbury’s store.
After considering your request we aren’t able to add this to our range at the moment.”
So the request was for completely the wrong title AND as you can see from the image they DO have Fleetwood Mac‘s Rumours anyway, so even if I had been after that, this is incorrect information. A combo-pack of a cock-up.
On Friday evening – after over a week of having no luck getting hold of this Frankie Goes To Hollywood – I received a salt-in-the-wound email from Salvo/BMG promoting the very product I’ve been trying hard to buy. Something is wrong when you are spending time and money marketing to people who want to buy your product but cannot, thanks to inept distribution.
Note the ‘selected stores only’! It’s not just ‘selected stores’, it’s selected stores within selected stores, because even if your local store sells vinyl (already a small percentage of the 1200 UK stores) it still doesn’t mean they will stock it.
It’s a mystery! Literally, no one in Sainsbury’s – not even the music buyer who emailed me about this a week and a half ago – can tell you exactly which stores are stocking it. THEY DON’T KNOW (and I’m not joking). Head office don’t know, individual store managers don’t know if they will get it, Salvo/BMG don’t know where you can find it. BUT Sainsbury’s think their customers can somehow find out. I don’t mind them jumping on the vinyl bandwagon, but if you are going to do something, then at least think it through and do it properly. Supermarkets need to just GO AWAY and concentrate on baked beans and stop playing around with stuff that we have a passion for in such a half-hearted manner and incompetent manner.
SDE helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.
Related Content
[…] Of course, this is very much reliant on your local shop deciding to stock it – the Frankie debacle is still fresh in the […]
Purchased the FGTH white vinyl earlier tonight at their Livingston store in West Lothian…..
Wasn’t expecting that!!
I wrote to Sainsbury’s. They said they only stock VINYLS (saints preserve us!) in Sydenham.
They also said they don’t sell FGTH at all. I just sent them a link to that advert FOR FGTH
Amateurs!
I haven’t had much luck with the London stores either. Would anybody know if there’s any stock of Madonna’s two albums left anywhere in the Capital? Cheers
Even my local take-away seems to getting in on the act. There’s a sign on the window that reads Hot Chip on sale here.
:)
Plus there’s a guy who works there swears he’s Elvis.
We have some great Indie music shops here in the US that stock lots of vinyl (Charlotte, NC has “Manifest Discs”, for example). Even Barnes and Noble carries a decent amount of vinyl.
I got an email that i didn’t even get to the bottom of before it was recalled. WTF?
It was from Amazon, but get this; it had a Sainsbury’s image and had an image of the FGTH album… WTF?
Er…The Works is now selling vinyl!!!!! In my nearest store they had a couple of 60s compilations, a Frank Sinatra best of and an Elvis Presley best of. £7 each of 2 for £10. Never seen any of these releases before in HMV etc. Just thought I’d let everyone know.
B&M also have the same records, Frank plus a couple of 60s compilations alongside the suitcase record players. There’s only 3 titles but dozens of each, someone’s knocking them out by the lorryload somewhere.
Woah – nice tip off!
Having spent last Monday and Tuesday hunting around London for copies of these limited edition vinyl, I managed to finally secure the ones I wanted. I have since travelled to Scotland, where yesterday the local Sainsbury’s had stock of pretty much all the coloured vinyl (mostly 1 or 2 copies of each).
The thing that really annoys me are the eBay profiteers who happened to be in the right place at the right time and have no desire to allow fans to collect such rarities at an affordable price (Abba’s Happy New Year silver glitter 7″ being one of the worst examples of poor sales organisation).
I would happily pick up any remaining stock for ‘true’ fans/collectors who are still trying to secure a copy at face value although not sure how to manage the process (Paul – any ideas on this would be great).
I know all too well the pain of losing out on these releases.
Well at least you get a cardboard cut-out full of records. In Hitchin Sainsburys (which IMO) is a pretty big store there is bugger all. I walked right round that store on Friday morning, up and down each isle looking intently for anything that was remotely vinyl shaped. Nothing. Anyone watching me on CCTV must have wondered what the hell was going on.
What gets me is that it is a big store with a very large entrance area where there would be plenty of room for a vinyl display rack. I’ll have another look in a few weeks. In the end I took myself off to the local indie-record-shop-within-a-charity-shop (true!) and bought Superchunk’s excellent Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91) LP down from £20 to £16 (left over RSD stock). Bet Sainsburys won’t ever be stocking that!
Why would Sainsburys dedicate floor space at the main entrance to vinyl? You do know you’re in a supermarket and not a record shop right?
I have to wonder what Sainsburys were trying to achieve with these hard to find limited editions? If it was to show off their new commitment to vinyl, or to make fans happy, or to impress us with their commitment to helping customers, then it’s failed spectacularly. If it was to get people who wouldn’t normally go into Sainsburys to visit several of their stores… then it worked, but the majority of the time those people left disappointed without buying anything. If their plan was to feed the greed of ebay speculators, or to let people know they are so hopeless at stock control that they don’t even know where they sent stuff, then it succeeded!
The whole thing has left me much less likely to shop at Sainsburys than before. I did manage to get the record, but that was thanks to the Frankie fan community rallying round and helping each other to get round the store’s incompetent handling of the whole thing.
Next time Sainsburys (if there is a next time, and I do hope there isn’t), who not sell things like this online for store pick-up, with a limit of 1 per customer to keep the ebay scalpers away? Or stick them on ebay yourselves and give any profits after your 20 quid cut to charity.
My feelings precisely. Somewhere, at some point, there was a big pile of these limited editions in a central distribution centre. It beggars belief that even if a big local store (which already stocks vinyl) doesn’t have them, that a customer can’t easily request a copy which will get shipped to the store ready to pick-up in 1-3 days. It’s not like they are out of stock – the 1000 copies of Frankie are just floating around random shops, unevenly distributed, no one at Sainsbury’s knows where they are and as you say, it’s only through fan-to-fan communication and forums like this that I’ve managed to get a copy too. “We” sent a man to the moon in 1969, but Sainsbury’s can’t move a vinyl record from place A to place B on request. Laughable.
Wandsworth Sainsburys, in the London area, had one copy of Frankie this afternoon (Sunday) and 5 or so of Jethro Tull. I was after Madonna and Prince but no joy so far. This store has a decent display area at the back of the store.
I tried North Sheen this week and was told it doesn’t stock vinyl. Surprising as it is a pretty big store.
I went also to Ladbroke Grove. I had trouble finding anything and was told that they were next to the fireworks near the front of the store. No new stuff though. All the regular albums displayed in the cardboard record shop set up. However, they probably had around 30 albums, every one of which was damaged. The store uses a security device, which is a big, solid device, positioned in the middle of the record, with 4 thick wires wrapping around each side. The sort of device used on electrical products. Because of this every album was marked by the wire on each side, with some having a corner crease because of the weight of the device.
So really, get your act together Sainsburys. This has been too much of a wild goose chase for everyone.
the ebay flippers are making some profit on the Madonna coloured vinyl
Sainsbury’s Beaconsfield which is a medium sized store has everything on proper racks and surprisingly Curtis Mayfield superfly on double orange. I decide to leave the green Jethro Tull for some other lucky punter!
Hi Paul,
Oh dear, aren’t people in a funny mood these days! Full Moon? Change of Season?
I think people need to appreciate how much time it takes to research & run a website!
I wonder if Sainsbury’s HQ released (I use the term loosely) the special vinyls a week earlier than originally planned? Cause I had two mails this Friday – Universal & Salvo – detailing the editions. The fact I drove all round last weekend, trying to find them – I didn’t find any in the end, but a friend did. For some people to get lucky this weekend makes me wonder if the stock should have been held back by the stores till this week….
Anyway Paul, if you need a Jethro Tull Green Vinyl I have one available for the retail price plus shipping. It’s not my thing, but I’d rather help a fellow collector than leave it on the shelf for a “flipper”
Anyone who would be kind enough to find the Madonna vinyls for me at Sainsbury’s would be my hero.
Was in my local store Luton, Bramingham Park on Friday and they still had FGTH, the Madonna’s and JT plus new this week Buble in silver. Get ’em while their hot!
Oh and I passed on FGTH even tho that would’ve been the only thing I really wanted – as I assume the box set vinyl that came out a few years ago is a better version?
The box set version was 33RPM 180g 2LP. This new white version should (in theory) sound the same, even if it is white vinyl.
I went in my sainsbos yesterday and they had everything too. They’ve had a stand by the entrance for months now – the one with things like stone roses and smiths LPs in it. The limited ones weren’t there but in their own shelf close to the DVD section. I didn’t really want anything but picked up Like A Prayer. The shelf even had a tiny promo card saying “we recommend true blue because it’s great etc” – so I think they did ok and are taking this venture seriously.
It seems that supermarkets are trying to attract middle aged men and even hip young men into their stores, ie selling exclusive vinyl as a way to get you to buy other things, or to make going to Sainsbury’s a part of your weekly routine. Not really indicative of something that has lasting, mass appeal. Here you all are, after all, driving around for miles to go to supermarkets!!! Job done, as far as they’re concerned. “Pick up some milk while you’re there, dear.”
The paradox with the vinyl collectable fad is that it’s a lesser investment. Which is going to be worth more in your collection, a battered but intact low-number 1968 vinyl copy of the white album, or a pristine new copy on white vinyl? The only way the industry can create fake value and investability is by releasing only micro-small runs of these super deluxe editions. And again, by its very nature this doesn’t build a lasting mass market, and so you’re never going to be more than a niche in a corner. Nice to have, nice to handle, but it’s an industry hangiung by a thread.
Having gotten men into their stores, or when the fad moves elsewhere (eg, another type of drone toy or games console), the supermarkets will drop vinyl like, er, we all dropped vinyl the first time around.
After having read all about the availability at Sainsbury’s I was asking myself: If nobody could tell Paul where to find the desired LPs, how are they distributed to the stores? There must be at least one person at the distribution centres selecting the packages. Or is it just a “random software” sneeking boxes into lorries? Maybe we will never know…
Paul I understand your point about Sainsburys completely. What is at fault here is the Americanisation of our brands, turning our supermarkets into hypermarkets. Even if Sainsburys expanded their selection to thousands of records, I would rather an independent record store with half that selection, any day of the week. Exclusives or no exclusives! It comes down to respect for the art form, for which Sainsburys, their buyers and their staff evidently have none!
It’s not to do with that, it’s to do with what sells. Tesco near me had a dedicated music section in the 80s with lots of vinyl. Boots, and WHSmith also sold lots of vinyl back then.
Popped into the Sainsbury’s store in Durham today as I was passing as I was curious to see how they were handling it and maybe if I was lucky I thought I might have an outside chance of grabbing 1 or 2.
I was pleasantly surprised, they had all the limited editions in, vinyl was stacked in a rack beside all the other music/dvd selections rather than a cardboard stand and they had plenty of stock apart from FGTH where they was only 1 left. I grabbed all the ones I wanted with ease which was very pleasing.
In amongst all the classic albums in the picture is the new EP by Curse Of Lono which makes me wonder what else they might stock.
I could be right, i could be wrong, but i think signed copies of the vinyl versions were about £200 on the PIL website.
I personally have had no problems over the recent Sainsburys vinyl releases. To find out which stores are selling the ‘special’ vinyls I phoned one of the 171 Sainsburys stores that stock the standard release vinyls and they could tell me my nearest stores that were selling them. This information SHOULD have been made easier to access like being put on Sainsburys website. It seemed to be some sort of game Sainsburys were playing for customers to find out themselves which stores had the new stock! All in all im glad they did have these new releases and if they do more hopefully next time it wont be such a mystery on which stores to get them from! FRANKIE SAY….. KEEP EM’ COMING!
I’m glad it was easy for you Colin and thanks again for securing me the FGTH vinyl.
Sainsbury’s and vinyl – sounds like a load of meat and two veg to me!!
I don’t want any if these on coloured vinyl or indeed as double versions as it’s a pain getting up to turn them over. They all sound ace on CD. Will look for them though and sell them on at an inflated price
My local Sainsbury’s has also recently introduced a metal shelf to stock their vinyl, after initially (since around June) having just the cardboard record store display. Sure the selection is just classics (and now a bit of coloured vinyl) but the prices are reasonable compared to HMV and Amazon and despite all of the legitimate grievances detailed above, I’m still pleased that they are offering music in this physical format (as well as on CD).
Your comment about something being wrong with marketing to people who want to buy but can’t certainly struck a nerve with me. Not specifically vinyl related, but I want to buy the new Pineapple Thief album “Your Wilderness” – preferably as a download and preferably in high resolution……
Now it’s available in both 16 bit and 24 bit FLAC on 7 Digital UK store, but being in Singapore, I can’t buy from there – even if I am actually in the U.K. (as I am from time to time), I cannot as my credit card is not issued in the U.K. (I don’t get this – if I am in the UK why should it matter where my card is from – I don’t get rejected at HMv for not having a UK card).
So looking at where I can buy from – 7 digital Singapore store only has an individual track (In Exile – and actually 24 bit!) and not the whole album. Likewise Qobuz. If it’s a licensing thing, why do they have a track and all the previous albums ?
To further frustrate me, the DVD version with high res from Kscope is sold out. I guess I could buy the CD from Amazon, but this will take a couple of weeks to get to me. Why does it have to be inconvenient to buy music.
I have emailed KScope but no reply.
Kate B, KOTM live…. wow. Was she holding a mic, or was it a headset mic due to choreography? I did not see the show.
Yes, it was a headset mic, considerably more sophisticated than the ‘coathanger’ job she used back in 1979!
Afternoon All
I live in Halifax and we seem to have a good selection of the coloured vinyls
FGTH (white), Madonna (pink and blue), Jethro Tull (green), Curtis Mayfield (orange) plus a couple of others
BUT they are on a shelf, rather than in the (slightly falling apart) rack
Thanks for the heads-up, Matthew. Just got the FGTH in Hfx, one left on the shelf now.
These shops have no business carrying records anyway! It’s not like back in the ’70s when music was an entire department. The vinyl resurgence is just major labels’ last-ditch desperate attempt to squeeze one last drop of revenue from their obsolete catalogs. How many NEW titles by NEW artists are being released in this warm & fuzzy format? Not a great percentage, I’d wager….
Plenty of new titles by new artists are released on vinyl, just not stocked by Sainsbury’s.
Is this ‘Pick-on-Paul’ week and nobody told me? I haven’t prepared anything but I suppose I could critique his occasionally lackadaisical vinyl fingering.
I thought he’d gone all Michael Douglas in Falling Down and raged against some hapless shop assistant. Turns out he’d had the gall to enquire if they had a couple of records in stock that were advertised, much as you might ask if they had a certain brand of cheddar… what a monster!
I appreciate Paul’s hands-off moderation on this site. He seems to post any criticism (a rather frequent occurence of late… I suspect they may be alt accounts by someone with a burning hatred for CDs in card wallets), and responds politely which is admirable. And it’s exactly why I could never run a blog like this, because i’d tell them to just piss off :D
Anyway, I haven’t set foot in a supermarket for nearly a decade and never intend to rub trolleys with the proletariat again if I can help it. Mind, if they did a Kate exclusive i’d be up those aisles mowing down small children and pensioners
What range were Sainsburys speaking of……. they are only stocking about 20 or 30 albums…………and presumably aimed at people wishing to get in or get back in to vinyl as most vinyl people would have the classics……..
Living in Canada, the idea of finding ANY vinyl in the supermarket is laughable. All this talk of not being able to find the white vinyl of FGTH makes me glad I still have the original WTTP vinyl in mint condition. Now I want to go home and play it.
I’m lucky to be in the UK at this time.
I’m french and while travelling around Scotland i saw your page Paul about this release. I’ve just been this morning at the edinburgh’s Sainsbury. The only supermarket i could go.
But nothing in store. My wife asked an employee who came back with the last one… so don’t hesitate to ask.
Owner of the original double picture disc Lp and the last box set, I wouldn’t have baught it on Discogs. Even the less expensive is at £38 without p&p. Which is absolutely nonsense. But at £20, it’s a good deal.
Seen the two Madonna vinyl flipped on eBay for £40. Just got the Pleasure Dome in the mail today from a buddy, he found 2 copies last Saturday.
The Sainsburys in Winchester recently moved all their vinyl so that it’s properly displayed next to the CDs and they now take up more space than the (greatly reduced) CD range. There’s still only about twenty different vinyls for sale and it’s just the usual “classic” albums. Sainburys sell tens of thousands of different products and vinyl is just one tiny component. I suppose their management should know which stores do and do not stock these “exclusive” limited editions but in the big scheme of things they probably don’t spend too much time monitoring it because they will sell out regardless. I don’t collect vinyl myself but I don’t think their cardboard display “record stores” are a bad thing at all. You just need to lower your expectations – they don’t specialise in vinyl so you are never going to get the attention to detail or knowledge that you’ll find in an independent record store or HMV.
I don’t mind Sainsbury’s stocking vinyl. Sometimes they are cheaper than Amazon and HMV plus you can get Nectar Points which you can collect for your next Vinyl purchase. Win Win for me!
Admittedly there store display was a bit disappointing when they first started stocking, but since they have extended their range, the titles have been moved to proper shelving space. There’s plenty of photo’s on twitter and I saw it ‘in the flesh’ at their York superstore where i picked up the new Pink Floyd ‘Wish You Were Here’ LP last week… for £18 i might add (cheaper then Amazon & HMV).
We should be thankful however they are using a simple security sticker and not punching a security tag through the sleeve or using them stupid wire ‘cage’ things that indents on the sides of sleeve like Tesco are still doing.
Always liked sainsbury’s – they have continued to have a decent entertainment section while other supermarkets are slowly getting smaller (i’m looking at you ASDA).
Yeah my local had loads of copies and nicely arranged. Personally not knocking them and good to encourage more vinyl purchasing.
Fair enough. Good to hear that some shops are doing a good job.
Hi,
How can i get one pleasure white vinyl for me outside of UK?
Also i have ordered liverpool silver vinyl from amazon 4-5 month ago still nothing…
Wonder why it is available on amazon and then the out of stock suddenly. I pre ordered it so no clue who they prefer first?
Thanks for helping me out!
Gyula
My quite new local Sainsbury’s superstore in Charlton did have the FGTH white vinyl when I popped in there on Tuesday. After buying the box set from last year, I was able to control my temptation to buy the limited edition even after seeing the price already on e-bay.
They also had the vinyl on a metal rack display and not the cardboard box display as shown above.
I guess there’s another discussion somewhere on the merits of these coloured vinyl limited editions.
Did you honestly expect a supermarket assistant to have specific knowledge on the products they sell? Be it electrical, toys or vinyl etc. I wouldn’t ask a guy putting fresh chickens out the best way to cook it or exactly where it’s sourced from or whether another of their stores a mile away has any bigger ones, would you? Why and how would he know? Do you ask the guy putting apples out how to make apple crumble and display mock frustration when he looks at you blankly or tries his best to help you out? They get stock, they put out the stock, they sell the stock. Ring up their sales and marketing department, which you say you did last week, fine, but don’t sneer at some poor sod on the shop floor of a supermarket, which sells tens of thousands of products, because they can’t tell a music expert what he wants to know regarding vinyl availability. Use your common sense, It’s Sainsbury’s not an independent record shop run by 65 year old ‘Johnny expert’ who knows the deadwax info of every vinyl record pressed since 1962.
Why would you expect Sainsbury’s to build dedicated vinyl shelves just to store a handful of records. Vinyl is in a supermarket because supermarkets jump on anything that is fashionable and stick it in people’s faces, competing with thousands of other products. They are in a cardboard stand at the end of an aisle as a novelty item. They follow trends. They worship the bottom line on a figures sheet and if that product improves that bottom line then great but they aren’t going to train their staff to be an expert in that product.
Criticise a product specific retailer if they are clueless but you are bang out of order going in a supermarket with the expectations you had with your experience.
I am criticising Sainsbury’s from the top down (Management, Head Office, Music Buyer) for introducing a product and having NO IDEA where customers can find it. They also appear not to have trained any staff to deal with selling the products or deal with enquiries. I think you better read the piece again, because there is no sneering at shop staff on the floor.
I can go into a supermarket with whatever expectations I like. One ‘expectation’ – for example – was to find the product they were telling me that they were selling. Sainsbury’s were making a big deal in PR terms about how they were stocking vinyl and in particular selling these limited editions. I have tested the customer experience. It’s appalling and I’m reporting on it.
I don’t know much about this effort by Sainsbury’s to sell vinyl and current UK distribution practices, but back in the day when non-record stores in the U.S. sold records (and paperback books for that matter as well), they were placed in the store by an independent “rack jobber” who had full responsibility for selection and keeping the store stocked. The retailer had little to do with it, other than the end sale. Perhaps Sainsbury has a similar kind of deal.
In fact, in many department stores and food retailers, the manufacturer actually owns the shelves and pays a “rental fee”. In essence, they’re renting space from the retailer and are responsible for their own area. This is the only way many stores can survive as margins have been cut to almost nothing.
I went on a Sainsburys wild goose chase for the blue vinyl version of Madonna’s True Blue yesterday. My large local branch didn’t have any left but checked on the computer that another branch had two on stock. A 20 minute car journey took me to that store who said they didn’t have any. Maybe get some in tomorrow. I left my details with them. An hour after I returned home a phone call says they miraculously now had a copy. I finally went there and bought it this morning. I was prompted by a promotional ‘now available’ email too.
Hi Paul, I e-mailed you at the start of the week, offering to pick up one of the FGTH vinyls at my store, but I think it may have gone into your spam folder.
Seeing the above picture, I am glad that the Sainsbury’s I go to at least has a dedicated music section, and that “Record Store” display is seamlessly incorporated into that area.
Ah, sorry if I missed that… and thanks for the offer. Luckily SDE reader Colin Mitchell did manage to get one for me yesterday, so thanks to Colin for sorting.
No problem, glad to help!
Hi
If you can still pick up a copy would def be interested?
My local Sainsbury’s had all the coloured vinyl editions including Frankie goes to Hollywood and Madonna and this morning had Sign of the times for £14 so can’t really complain as it’s better than nothing.
The Sainsburys in Ashton-under-Lyne always has a fantastic selection of CDs – often my reward following the horror of a circuit round Ikea…
Other branches never seem to have the same stuff so I’ve always assumed that the selection was down to the staff in store and that Ashton must have a particularly savvy person in charge.
Will have to check out the vinyl fire hazzard next time I’m there :o)
Hi Yousef, I got the FGTH vinyl from the Ashton store. It wasn’t in the fire hazard bit, but was in the proper shelving with the CDs & DVDs. Not been in for a week, so don’t know if it’s still there.
I was on the lookout for the £14 ‘Sign of the Times’ at my local store but no joy yet. I suspect they’ll be unlikely to get much beyond the initial stock.
Yeah nice of Salvo to send that same email to their overseas mail list as well who have no hope of getting a copy!
I agree with you on the FGTH vinyl in Sainsbury’s; the larger Bournemouth store didn’t have it (they had Jethro tull though); however their out-of-town Ferndown store DID have Pleasuredome, which I got a copy of (they had 3). And the had split their Vinyl display – part was like your picture, and there was a sign that said ‘more by the CDs/DVDs’ which was where FGTH was. bizarre!