Rounder Records announces closure

Sad news from the South Coast, as the long running Brighton record shop Rounder Records has announced it will close at the end of the month.

Rounder Records has provided Brighton residents with a wide range of music for some 46 years and this site’s deputy editor used to dig through the shop’s record shelves on a regular basis whilst studying at the nearby Sussex University. The reasons for closure are an all too familiar tale in the current climate, with the recently circulated press release stating:  “We are closing because we can’t make it add up any more. We are a business that has been decimated by downloads (both legal and illegal), VAT avoidance by the big online retailers, a double dip recession, & the decline of the high street. Our lease has ended and we have nowhere to go.”

Speaking on the planned closure, Rounder Records owner Phil Barton added, “The shop and the staff have always striven to be the best. We are not able to deliver the best anymore and with the deepest regret I have to close the doors at the end of July. Rounder has been a part of my life, and my loyal staff’s lives for so long that having to close is a very bitter pill to swallow. We tried everything to stay open, but the basic economics were killing us.”

Rounder Records will cease operating at 6pm on Sunday July 29.