Rough Trade - New York, New York

Stefan

Bonus points for having stickers! Unfortunately they cost 1$ but nothing is free in New York.

The floor decor in this store is insanely cool! So dope walking and finding your fav album underneath your feet. There’s something for everyone in the selection. Despite not being massive, it has enough variety where every second feels new. I was able to find 2 records to purchase.

The clothing section may feature your favourite bands. I found a really cool The Clash shirt with some Japanese captions!
The Photo Booth wall was cute. I tried to take some photos in the booth but it would not accept my card no matter what I did, would have been a cool souvenir.

Overall enjoyed coming to this store and it is a must visit place for any record collector.

Jerry Veras

Really cool store, a wide variety of vinyls amongst other forms of music. They also constantly have artists visiting in store.

Naz

one of my fav record stores in NYC. lots of variety and a whole section of signed vinyls as well. follow their instagram page as there are many events at the store and it may be closed for a few hours when you plan to visit

Jody Boyd

Definitely one of the best record shops I have ever been to. Wild selection of vinyls in every genre with just about every artist plus if they dont have what you’re looking for, they can get it online for you. Friendly and helpful staff.

Dennis Hof

Visiting vinyl shops while traveling is one of my favorite things ... neck & neck with coffee shops and breweries. I stumbled upon Rough Trade trying to get out of the cold on a January evening while touring Rockefeller Center. What a find! It had a bright new, almost Urban Outfitters kind of feel ... compared to the normal grungy old blues joint feeling of most record stores (which I do love BTW). There was a great selection of new, rereleased, and old albums, but what really caught me was the amazing selection of music-based reads. The staff were amazing and super helpful ... especially for someone just trying to warm up.

Totally cool and hip. 5 ⭐; would visit again ... and you should too.

A Z

Neat little record store. The story is on the smaller side, but they have a respectable collection with a good blend of new and used records.

They popped on a Japanese City Pop record I had not heard before, so naturally I had to add it to my collection.

Ernest Jack

I've been coming to this store a long time, and i'm bound to come back again and again!
The store provides plenty of great records in retail ranging from new albums, reissues of classics, signed records on sale, and a section for used records which are reasonably priced, all in different styles and genres. There's even a cool box on the counter which has some rare finds, a small section for CD's and cassettes, a nice t-shirt rack in the corner of the store, and a really cool B&W photo booth to get in and take a pic as a souvenir.
While this location is rather small, it gives way for intimate performances by some great indie bands and other artists in the store when you get the chance to see them! (be sure to follow them on the DICE app to look for events)
Also, if you're someone who loves to talk music with anyone, the staff is filled with some pretty awesome people that's worth having a bit of small-talk with and will be sure to help you find whatever you're looking for.

Kye Mazo

First time I cried after leaving a store. I’ve spent a lot of money here and has been my favorite store for awhile. Has contributed greatly to my record collection!

Unfortunately, lately I’ve been feeling really unwelcomed and feel like I’m dealing with racial profiling. Sometimes I’ll walk in, I’ll just do a slight wave or a say a good morning (I work overnight until 7am and sometimes wait until 10 for rough trade to open), and I’m met with an eye roll, a face will be made at me, they’ll look away. I try not to take it personally because it’s still early and they just got to work, so I get it! But then there will be times here and there I feel like a specific worker is watching/following me. I understand they get a lot of customers, so they won’t recognize me as a returning customer maybe. I also understand I may not be the 100% most presentable looking person in the world sometimes, but in all honesty it does hurt my feelings .

All of the above happened again this morning, and I was defeated and cut my browsing short and just bought what I was already holding and left. I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want any trouble, and I still don’t! I know some people may have their days. But it was really disappointing. I’ll still be returning because other staff members can be very very friendly and helpful! But the feeling after hours of excitement waiting for your favorite store to open, just to feel like you’re in enemy territory once you’re there can be a huge bummer.