Westway to the world: Rough Trade expands to Brooklyn and Paris
From its humble beginnings in late 70s Notting Hill, to the 90s expansion into Covent Garden to its flagship store on Brick Lane, London’s Rough Trade been one of the capital’s best sellers of records. Now, in a move sure to inspire music fans everywhere, the company has announced a global expansion.
In Autumn, Rough Trade Retail Group will open a store in Williamsburg, New York. The shop will double up as a venue, ran by the Bowery.
“At long last, we can finally confirm the next bold step in our evolution” said co-owner Stephen Godfroy. “We’re extremely excited at the prospect of handing over the ‘blank canvas’, that is a Rough Trade store, to the music lovers of New York, allowing them make it their own culture agora, just as the people of London have so successfully achieved, with downturn-defying results.”
John Moore, partner, The Bowery Presents said: “The Bowery Presents has always maintained a commitment to developing artists at the inception of their career, with Rough Trade NYC we have that opportunity in an exciting neighborhood and we are excited about the retail store and venue combination concept”.
The news comes on the same day that Rough Trade opened a pop-up store at Paris fashion boutique Agnes B. Over Twitter, the company announced: “Hey Parisians Rough Trade Paris opens today at [at]_AgnesB_ rue du jour. follow [at]RoughTradePopUp for details of loads of killer instores” It’s the second time the music and fashion shops have collaborated – last December, Rough Trade hosted a week-long session in the Rue de Jour store.
