Rough Trade have announced that they are opening a new branch in New York City’s Rockefeller Center, to be named Rough Trade Below. (NME)
We're expanding here in the heart of NYC, opening a second store at Rockefeller Center... located below our current store! Our existing store stays, while our new store will add and expand the vinyl offer, merch and much much more. In-store live performances + talks will now take place in Rough Trade Below, as it'll have plenty of room for a few hundred folks. Signings will remain upstairs at Rough Trade Above. Still all ages for both event spaces. We'll let you know the opening date once confirmed. Exciting times.
It will be the second Rough Trade site at the midtown Manhattan location and will be based on the ice rink level, directly opposite the 47th-50th St-Rockefeller Center subway station.
Set to open in the spring, the store will include new and used vinyl records, new and used CDs, artist merchandise, audio hardware, Blu-rays and more and will also play host to regular in-store performances and appearances.
Rough Trade co-owner Stephen Godfroy has said: “We’re extremely excited to be opening Rough Trade Below this spring, helping us further cater to the tremendous demand from music lovers across the five boroughs and beyond.”
“It’s clear that the ethos of Rough Trade – to narrow the gap between artist and audience – has struck a tremendous chord here in New York. Creating an even larger mecca for the music lover is an exciting prospect, especially for our intimate live events, where the world’s most exciting artists perform in-store for the admission of purchasing their new album. Creating a focus of counterculture in midtown Manhattan has thankfully proved to be a wildly successful move, and we look forward to creating an even stronger creative community as the year progresses.”
Rough Trade’s other New York site opened in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 2013, becoming New York City’s largest record store, before relocating to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in 2021.
