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Andy's Records
Andy's Records was a UK music retailer that traded from 1969 to 2003. Based in Bury St Edmunds, its roots were in nearby Felixstowe and Cambridge.
Andy Gray started selling second-hand jukebox 45s and old 78 rpm records on Felixstowe Pier in 1969 and within five years had acquired a stall on Cambridge market. The market stall was successful, and in 1976 Gray opened his first retail shop in Mill Road, Cambridge. Initially, Andy's Records was well known for undercutting competitors by importing records from Europe at a bargain price and then passing the savings on to customers. The chain's expansion was slow and steady, and by the early 1980s the company had 12 stores across the east of England with two shops in Cambridge and others in Bury St Edmunds, King's Lynn, Peterborough, Haverhill, Colchester, Bedford, Lowestoft, Norwich and Ipswich.
By 1983 the company was trading as Andy's Records & Video, capitalising on the success of home video and the VHS and Betamax war. Gray listed the chain as a limited company, AHG Records. By this time, Gray's brother William (known as Billy) had become marketing director. Early advertising was often humorous and sometimes self-deprecating e.g. "Purveyors of fine music at cheapo prices". The company slogan around this time was "Possibly the greatest music stores in the world". This was replaced in the early 90s by "Where music matters" and again later on by "Where music REALLY matters".
The company, buoyed by the relatively new formats of VHS and CD, started to aggressively expand out of the Anglia region. Deciding that southern England was too expensive, the Gray brothers concentrated on opening stores in the Midlands and northern England. By the late 80s to early 90s, Andy's Records was fast becoming a well-known name on the UK High Street. It became the UK's largest independent music retailer in 1992, a title it retained for 10 years.
In 1993, the company won the prestigious Music Week Independent Retailer Award, and continued to win this award each year until 1999.
By the mid-1990s, the company had climbed into the Top 500 of UK companies and boasted a portfolio of more than 30 stores. By this time, Andy's Records had stopped selling cheap imports and started to compete with HMV and Virgin Megastores as a premium music retailer. The chain was too small to compete with these two, but too large to undercut competitors.
As late as November 1999, new stores were being opened with Leamington Spa its 40th.
In August 2000, it was announced that the Warrington and Doncaster stores were to close. With supermarkets getting even cheaper and increased competition from online stores, the chain started to flounder. When major competitors, such as HMV or Virgin, were present, their campaigns were better than Andy's, and recent chart albums were available at much lower prices, due to their bulk buying power. The chain's marketing was not up to the standard of the bigger chains.
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Andy's Records
Andy's Records was a UK music retailer that traded from 1969 to 2003. Based in Bury St Edmunds, its roots were in nearby Felixstowe and Cambridge.
Andy Gray started selling second-hand jukebox 45s and old 78 rpm records on Felixstowe Pier in 1969 and within five years had acquired a stall on Cambridge market. The market stall was successful, and in 1976 Gray opened his first retail shop in Mill Road, Cambridge. Initially, Andy's Records was well known for undercutting competitors by importing records from Europe at a bargain price and then passing the savings on to customers. The chain's expansion was slow and steady, and by the early 1980s the company had 12 stores across the east of England with two shops in Cambridge and others in Bury St Edmunds, King's Lynn, Peterborough, Haverhill, Colchester, Bedford, Lowestoft, Norwich and Ipswich.
By 1983 the company was trading as Andy's Records & Video, capitalising on the success of home video and the VHS and Betamax war. Gray listed the chain as a limited company, AHG Records. By this time, Gray's brother William (known as Billy) had become marketing director. Early advertising was often humorous and sometimes self-deprecating e.g. "Purveyors of fine music at cheapo prices". The company slogan around this time was "Possibly the greatest music stores in the world". This was replaced in the early 90s by "Where music matters" and again later on by "Where music REALLY matters".
The company, buoyed by the relatively new formats of VHS and CD, started to aggressively expand out of the Anglia region. Deciding that southern England was too expensive, the Gray brothers concentrated on opening stores in the Midlands and northern England. By the late 80s to early 90s, Andy's Records was fast becoming a well-known name on the UK High Street. It became the UK's largest independent music retailer in 1992, a title it retained for 10 years.
In 1993, the company won the prestigious Music Week Independent Retailer Award, and continued to win this award each year until 1999.
By the mid-1990s, the company had climbed into the Top 500 of UK companies and boasted a portfolio of more than 30 stores. By this time, Andy's Records had stopped selling cheap imports and started to compete with HMV and Virgin Megastores as a premium music retailer. The chain was too small to compete with these two, but too large to undercut competitors.
As late as November 1999, new stores were being opened with Leamington Spa its 40th.
In August 2000, it was announced that the Warrington and Doncaster stores were to close. With supermarkets getting even cheaper and increased competition from online stores, the chain started to flounder. When major competitors, such as HMV or Virgin, were present, their campaigns were better than Andy's, and recent chart albums were available at much lower prices, due to their bulk buying power. The chain's marketing was not up to the standard of the bigger chains.