Andys Records

Andys 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.

The beginning

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 incredibly successful, and in 1976 Gray opened his first retail shop in Mill Road, Cambridge.

Initially, Andys 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 twelve stores across the East Anglia region (Cambridge (2), Bury St. Edmunds, King's Lynn, Peterborough, Haverhill, Colchester, Bedford, Lowestoft, Colchester, Norwich and Ipswich).

Expansion and advertising

In 1983 the company was trading as Andys Records & Video (capitalising on the success of the VHS and Betamax war). Gray listed the chain as a limited company, AHG Records. By this time, Gray's brother William (also known as Billy) had become marketing director. Early advertising was often humorous and sometimes self-deprecating. Their 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 South England was too expensive, the Gray brothers concentrated on opening stores in the Midlands and North England. By the late 80s to early 90s, Andys 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.

Awards

In 1993, the company won the highly prestigious Music Week Independent Retailer Award, and it continued to win this award each year until 1999. The chain also came third in 2002 as National Music Retailer.

By the mid-1990s, the company had climbed into the Top 500 of UK companies and boasted an impressive 30+ store portfolio. By this time, Andys 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.

New stores started to be opened as Andys, dropping the Records tag as it was considered too old-fashioned. In November 1999, Andys opened its 40th store in Leamington Spa.

The downfall

In August 2000 it was announced that the Warrington and Doncaster stores were to close. Battered by illegal file sharing, supermarket pricing and even cheaper online stores, the chain started to flounder. A criticism levelled at Andys, often unfairly, was its high prices. A comprehensive price check proved that Andys was no more expensive than HMV or Virgin and, in some cases, was cheaper. Andys stores were mostly situated where there were no HMVs or Virgins and therefore there was no available comparison. When those major competitors were present, their campaign sales were better than Andys (due to their bulk buying power), and recent chart albums were available at a much lower price.

After more store closures in 2001 and 2002, the chain was down to a roster of just under 30 stores and lost its claim to be the largest independent chain, being replaced by the up-and-coming Music Zone. In early 2002 Billy Gray left the company to work for rival Tower Records UK. Following a disappointing 2002 Christmas, Gray decided to go back to his roots and started to sell imports at cut-throat prices. Thousands of titles were slashed in price in January 2003, many normally retailing at £10.99 were reduced to £6.99, and £15.99/£16.99 became £10.99/£12.99. Around this time, the chain had a minor facelift with new styling and decor in most stores and new uniforms for staff.

Administration

The changes were too little, too late, and the company fell into administration on 28th May 2003 with just 23 stores still trading. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/2951538.stm]

Debts owing were £1.5 million to suppliers and £1.5 million to Barclays Bank. The bank exercised its legal right to call in the administrators after it lost faith that the company could pay back a loan that was taken out in 1992 to expand the company. Gray, now a multi-millionaire (he came 94th in the Sunday Times Rich List during the mid-90s), was unwilling to continually underwrite the company after three years of losses.

RSM Robson Rhodes were the administrators appointed by Barclay's to run the company during the administration period. All 23 stores were put up for sale as a going concern. Both HMV and Virgin looked at stores but decided not to purchase. In July 2003, South England-based music retailer Powerplay bought four stores (Lowestoft, Bedford, Hull and Lancaster) from the administrators. The company purchased a further two (Hereford and Worcester) in September 2003. All stores have since shut their doors and Powerplay now concentrates on online sales under the name Powerplay Direct.

After some immediate closures due to unprofitability, the chain was whittled down to 10 and started to sell all of its stock at discounted prices. The Beverley store was eventually bought by its management team. It stayed open till late 2005.

All stores eventually shut on Saturday 13th September 2003.

Andy Gray continues to run a successful reissue record label, BGO Records, from Bury St. Edmunds (actually behind the old Andys Records head office). BGO is now the fourth largest reissue label in the UK and specialises in niche genres.

External links

* Andy Gray's record label - http://www.bgo-records.com
* Billy Gray's consultancy firm - http://www.graymatters.co.uk
* BBC report on the closing - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/2951538.stm
* Powerplay Direct - http://www.powerplaydirect.com/