Banbury records shop sees online sales more than double since first lockdown

Chris Oakes, the owner of Strummer Room Records, has seen online sales at his business more than double since the first lockdown started while his town centre shop remains closed.

Strummer Room Records, a small record shop hidden away in Church Lane, only just opened a few weeks before the first lockdown.

Chris Oakes, the record store's owner, said: "We opened our doors at the end of February supplying a wide range of (mainly) second-hand vinyl records and CD's of all genres. We also stock a limited amount of new vinyl and CD's.

"Unfortunately, three weeks after opening, Covid-19 hit and we had to close (like everyone else) for around three months. We re-opened in mid-June and have remained open on a limited basis (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) ever since (until the second lockdown).

Chris also runs a growing online business from home, buying and selling vinyl and CD's all over the world.

He said: "Pre-lockdown, we were selling a reasonable amount of records on an online marketplace specific to the vinyl records, cassette tapes and CD market.

"However, after lockdown was enforced, the online sales started to increase initially doubling within a couple of weeks and has continued to grow steadily ever since to a point where this side of the business is more sustainable than the physical shop.

"It's mainly due to the fact that it is exposed to collectors all over the world and the overheads of running an online business are much lower than running a physical shop."

As with all other non-essentials, the physical shop in Church Lane will be closed for the foreseeable future.

Chris, who has lived in Bodicote for around 20 years, was also previously part of The Strummer Room Project, which promoted and hosted live gigs in Banbury, Oxford and Witney a few years ago.

The web business, www.strummerroom.com, specialises in new and second-hand vinyl records, cassette tapes, CD's and vinyl record cleaning products.

They also have a separate web page for a second-hand records here: https://www.discogs.com/seller/strummerroom/profileThey are also active on social media here is the link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StrummerRoomRecords

He added: "The online sales doubled within a few weeks of the initial lockdown, and has been steadily growing since to the extent that online sales now account for around 70 per cent of the company's income."