By Andrew Brown Stand Up For Southport
The owner of Quicksilver Music in Southport has thanked music lovers for making this year’s Record Store Day “the best yet”.
The special event on Saturday (12th April 2025) saw people queuing up outside the shop, on the corner of Market Street and King Street, for up to 12 hours, ready for the doors opening at 8am.
The first person in the queue was here from 8.30pm on Friday night – he queued for nearly 12 hours – to buy the limited edition Wicked soundtrack (£50), one of just three available in Quicksilver, for his daughter.
All three records went in the first five minutes.
Harp Coffee and Games over the road opened at 6.40am to provide music lovers with bacon and sausage rolls, toast and hot drinks thanks to owner Nick McCoy with daughters Autumn, 11, and daughter Honora, 2.
It was a great example of two independent local businesses in the growing Southport Market Quarter working together to bring footfall into the area.
It was also a good way of reminding people that shops and cafes in the area remain open, as multi-million pound building work takes place on the roads outside to make dramatic improvements to the area around Southport Market.
The monthly Artisan Craft Fair was also taking place inside Southport Market on Saturday, to attract more shoppers into the area.
This was the first Record Store Day event at Quicksilver Music since the shop moved into bigger new premises from its previous home further along Market Street.
Quicksilver Music owner Dave Thornley said: “Our Record Store Day event was an amazing success!
“It was our best Record Store Day yet, and so much better in our bigger premises.
“I’d say about 80% of the RSD stock went on Saturday and the rest will trickle out during the week.
“The support we received from our customers was great as always.
“We’ve been open for 16 years this year so we have a dedicated bunch of regulars but it was really nice to see new faces on Saturday too, all are welcome!
“It was a great collaboration with Harp Coffee & Games too. I had really positive feedback from both them and my customers waiting outside, and hopefully they get a few new customers too now the event is over.
“With the roadworks at the moment, footfall is down for all local businesses in the Market Street and King Street area, so it was great to see how many people made the effort to come down and support us!”
The must-haves for people in the queue this year were Wicked; the Oasis four track hits album (£50), with only 15,000 copies on sale across the UK; and Taylor Swift.
The second person in the queue was there from midnight, after catching the last train from Ainsdale, to buy vinyl by Oasis, Verve and Liam Gallagher.
Third in the queue was Darren Mawdesley from Southport, who was stood outside since 1.30am.
Fourth was John McKenzie, who arrived from Maghull at 2.15am, determined to add to his Oasis collection.
Chloe Robertson from Southport arrived at 3.45am to buy records by Taylor Swift, Royal Otis and Post Malone.
One regular in the queue said: “I have been coming to Quicksilver Music for years!
“It’s a brilliant independent shop. It’s become even better since it moved into bigger new premises, with more records now available.
“Owner Dave Thornley has built a real community of record lovers, through his shop, through the superb videos he creates, and through his social media pages, where we can chat about who’s buying what, what time everyone’s arriving in the queue etc.
“It was really cold queueing on Friday night! We were really pleased to see Nick from Harp Coffee and Games get involved this year, his hot drinks and bacon barms were very welcome!
“Southport has some fabulous places now where people can buy vinyl. There are some great record shops here.
“You can spend all day visiting them all.
“Southport has become a real destination to come and spend the day for people who love their music and love to collect records.”
Nick McCoy from Harp Coffee and Games said: “I hadn’t heard about Record Store Day until a couple of months ago, and didn’t realise what a huge thing it was!
“It’s a lovely community of record lovers they have there. I was aiming to open at 7am, but opened at 6.40am. There were loads of people queueing outside.
“Dave and I work really closely together. With the roadworks happening in Southport Market Quarter, it’s great when local businesses can work together to attract people into this area to give everyone here a boost.
“I was helped very well by Autumn and Honora!”
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