Why Isn't Avalanche More Like ………….

Several comments ran along the lines of why can’t we be more like FOPP, Rough Trade, Piccadilly or Monorail as they seem to be doing OK. FOPP are of course owned by HMV who in any other circumstances wouldn’t still be trading but are being kept afloat by the record companies with terms independent shops could only dream of. They can afford to take more chances with things like new releases while acting as a clearance shop for HMV.  I have no wish to be like FOPP.

Rough Trade are financed by Martin Mills (owner of the Beggars Group) who is a major shareholder and has put all that money from Adele sales to good use.  I can’t actually find a statement from RT ever saying if they have made a profit since their move to RTE so I can’t comment on that though obviously being based in London helps a lot.

Piccadilly and Monorail are both excellent shops though clearly, like Rough Trade, completely different to Avalanche and indeed many other record shops. They have larger catchment areas and I’ve heard of many plans over the years to open a similar sort of shop in Edinburgh but they have always fallen through as people came to the conclusion that Edinburgh was too small to support such a shop.

I invested a high five figure sum in moving to the Grassmarket and creating the space we now have. We have had successful exhibitions, film showings and in-stores and lead the way in trying to bring younger customers back into record shops with our posters and badges. We have had offers based on Avalanche being chosen as one of the top 10 record shops in the world and one of the top 20 niche entertainment brands in the UK. We have clearly done something right.

I’ve had numerous offers for other businesses / organisations etc to be associated with our blog and general social media presence and as you will see I have accepted none of them so as not to compromise what we do. I’m not against links I’ve just not been offered anything appropriate. As part of any way forward we will certainly be looking for business partners in some areas  

So Avalanche will continue to be Avalanche while always trying to evolve. A lot of people will like it and some won’t and that is just fine.