National Record Store Day rolls in big crowd for limited-edition releases

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Saturday was National Record Store Day, and hundreds of music lovers stood for hours to get their hands on limited-edition releases by their favorite artists.

Dozens of customers lined the outside of Vertical House Records at Lowe Mill early Saturday morning, waiting for the store to open at noon.

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Some customers even told News 19 they got in line at 12 a.m.

Emily Imes said getting the record she wants is worth the wait.

“It’s going to feel so good to have a physical copy in my hands,” said Imes. “To know that I sat here, waited it out, made friends, and got it instead of just ordering it off a website… I might cry, but it’s going to feel really good to have it.”

National Record Store Day was created in 2008. It focuses on the release of limited edition music from bands that are only available in independent record stores. Its popularity has grown with the love of vinyl record in the past year – outselling CDs last year for the first time since 1987.

Ashley Vaughn and her husband Andy own Vertical House Records. Their store has participated in the holiday since it was founded.

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“It’s always great!” said Ashley. “We’re just thankful that people support this so we can keep doing it. We get friends texting us updates on the line and everything throughout the morning, so it’s just really exciting.”

To participate in Record Store Day, stores must order these special releases. This means that not all record stores will participate in the holiday.

Two other record stores in Huntsville participated in Record Store Day: Station Retro and Echo Records.

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