WHSmith announces vinyl return to stores for first time in three decades

WHSmith has announced its stores will stock vinyl records for the first time since the 1990s. 

In a move to attract the record-buying British public back to the high street, the retailer is seeking to appeal to "seasoned fans and new listeners alike," with the return of physical albums to its stores, where they'll be displayed alongside the best-selling hardback and paperback books.

WHSmith originally started stocking vinyl albums in the 1950s, at the dawn of the boom of rock music in the UK, with the sale of albums being a core component of the retailer's strategy. However, with the rise of the CD in the 90s, sales of vinyl dropped off and they were discontinued from stores.

Now, for the first time in three decades, British shoppers will be able to purchase vinyl from WHSmith. The retailer has announced that 80 of its stores up and down the country will now be selling vinyl albums. 

This comes as the vinyl boom continues apace in the UK, an unlikely but very welcome renaissance at the height of the streaming era. Last year, the BPI confirmed that 2023 was the 16th consecutive year of growth for vinyl sales in the UK, with the fastest year-on-year growth we've seen for vinyl this decade. 

According to BPI analysis of Official Charts data, vinyl sales have increased four times as fast as 2022, with an 11.7% rise to 5.9 million units (up to week 51). In 2022, vinyl sales increased year-on-year by 2.9%.

Last year, Taylor Swift earned the biggest vinyl album of 2023 with 1989 (Taylor's Version), while the biggest vinyl release by a British act was The Rolling Stones' Hackney Diamonds, the first release of original material since 2005 and their first album since the death of drummer Charlie Watts.

As for 2024, Taylor is once again dominating vinyl sales in the UK - The Tortured Poets Department is the best-selling vinyl album of the year so far, while the biggest British vinyl album of the year so far belongs to Oasis and their 30th anniversary re-issue of Definitely Maybe. Liam Gallagher also claims the year's biggest vinyl single so far, with Just Another Rainbow with John Squire.

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