Pandemic Leads To Boost In Sales For Poughkeepsie Record Store

As businesses began to re-open after the COVID-19 lockdown, many struggled to keep their doors open after months of slow business. This, however, was not the case for Poughkeepsie’s Darkside Records.

Darkside Records has been the Hudson Valley’s largest independent record store since 2011, offering a wide variety of new and used vinyl records, CDs, and more. One of the store’s owners, Justin Johnson, detailed his experiences working at the store throughout the COVID-19 lockdown, and how they have emerged victoriously from what had been a difficult time.

“At first, it was really tough. It was just me and one other employee, everybody else was laid off temporarily just because it was an unknown. We managed to just make our way through it. I worked every day, eight or ten hours a day … selling phone orders, web orders, curbside pickup, whatever I could just to keep going.”

After three months of exclusively doing delivery and curbside pickup, Darkside Records re-opened for in-store shopping. Businesses all across the country struggled to regain their audiences. This, however, was not a problem for Darkside Records.

“Once we were able to reopen, it just seems like it kind of took off from there. I think something about that absence of people being able to come in and have the experience in the store clicked with everybody,” he explained. “We see all our regulars but we see all these new faces, too.”

This resurgence was not only due to the pandemic, as vinyl sales have seen a steady increase within the past ten years. A renewed interest has now resulted in vinyl records surpassing CD sales for the first time in decades.

“You could see the trend has been moving this way,” Johnson stated. “And I think when you couple in the pandemic with people spending more time at home, with less places to go or travel … people are finding the value in physical music and not just having a bystander approach to it with streaming services.”

Since its reopening, Darkside Records has continued to provide its customers exclusive releases and exciting offers, including a special shipment from music superstar Taylor Swift.

“Our distributor who distributes Taylor Swift’s music said, ‘Hey. We have this special thing. You can’t tell anybody about it, there’s no shipping, there’s no holds, there’s no preorders. You don’t post anything until you have them in your hand.’”

Upon its arrival, the package was revealed to be copies of Swift’s new album, “Folklore”, signed by the singer herself. The autographed CDs were shipped exclusively to independent record stores, sending Taylor Swift fans into an online frenzy to track down their own copy.

“It was crazy. We have two phone lines here and it was not enough. People were messaging us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, saying, ‘Hey, your phone’s busy, I can’t get through,’” Johnson recalled. “We were like, ‘Just keep trying, please be patient.’ It was a really crazy two hours; I think that’s what it took to sell out of all of them.”

After a year of loss and uncertainty, businesses throughout the country continue to wonder what may be next for them. However, if its successes within the past few months are any indication for what is to come, Darkside Records is here to stay.