Hi everyone,

It is official…. the holiday shopping season has begun.
We kicked things off last week with Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, and I am thrilled to see that this was a good one for our stores. I have rounded up a few of the CIMS stores' first-hand accounts of the weekend to share some stats and stories with you. I always enjoy reading these and appreciate everyone that is a part of bringing success to our stores.

Oh and since this message is falling on December 1st... I had to break this one out :) I hope you all find your December will be Magic again!

Here are a few recaps, enjoy!
Andrea

John Kunz: Waterloo Records - Austin, TX
Black Friday 2022 at Waterloo Records was really great, but also very different! Overall store sales were up a whopping 17.9%, but this year's crop of BF titles didn't sell for us in the quantities as in the past, even though they represented 45% of our total sales volume that day. Regardless, sales remained very strong on Small Business Sat., (up 31.9%) when our remaining BF titles went online. Sunday sales were also up (8.3%), so our BF weekend sales were up 19.6% overall.. However, yesterday we marked down nearly half of the BF titles (something we've never done before) for a Cyber Monday Weeklong Sale, to bring today's high prices more in line with pre-inflation times. They are good titles that will likely sell through this holiday shopping season.

The first couple of shoppers in our line arrived at 5am, and there were 75 folks in line for our 8am opening. We were able to clear the line by about 8:30, with a grand total of 105 shoppers, prior to general entry. Overall, we clocked 702 transactions that day, purchasing 2440 items.

Big thanks go out to everyone again that made this day happen: the artists, managers, labels, distributors, one-stops, sponsors, 1400 indie record stores, Carrie, Andrea, Michael, Eric, and most of all, the very dedicated and talented crew here at Waterloo Records!

Alayna Alderman: Record Archive - Rochester, NY
Greetings!!

It has taken me days to get my act together after this past weekend~ WOW Absolutely the best BLACK FRIDAY in our 48-year-old HISTORY!!

First customer in line at 4 am. We opened at 9 to about 100 marching through the doors. They lined up and patiently waited their turn into the Backroom Lounge, where all the RSD titles are carefully displayed. It is the most efficient system to date and did not let us down! We moved the bulk crowd within an hour and 1/2, all were happy to get 98% of their desires. From there on it turned into typical Record Archive Party mode! 2 live bands kept the bar hopping and the main floor shoppers were scooping up as much as possible! This year we feature BUY 1 GET 1 Free on all movies- dvds, blu rays, laser discs & even VHS! Tons of $1 records went out the door. Our LPS bins were the place to be!!

My staff handled it all beautifully and I could not be more pleased or proud to work with this team every day.

Here are the details:
Overall sales up 24% over 2021
72% up over 2020
36% up over 2019

Best sellers:
Doors
Cure
Jazz Dispensary
Soul Coughing
Jimi Hendrix
Billie Eilish
Olivia Newton John

Thank you to all who work tirelessly (every day) to keep our stores stocked with these cool limited edition pieces. Your efforts are not lost on me. I am grateful for you - Andrea, Carrie, Michael, Eric , CIMS HQ, & all the labels and artists who still believe in us.
To my staff who knocked it out the of park and to all our customers who chose to spend their Black Friday with us-- you are all simply the best~

With much love,
Alayna

Mike Fratt: Homer’s - Omaha, NE
Homers Back to Black Friday 2022
about 75 in line at open

Our biggest Black Friday, both Friday and weekend

up 23% vs 2021, up 14% vs 2019 (last normal BF)
up 17% vs weekend last year, up 16% vs weekend 2019

sales activity on 150+ titles,
no sales (so far) on 20+ titles
sell-through sits at 46%

top sellers
Dream Widow, David Bowie (both), Doors, Cure
Smash Mouth, Tommy Boy, Shadows Fall, Billie Eilish
Charles Mingus, Dead Milkmen, Grateful Dead, Ghost
low sellers
Watchmen sndtk, Heartbreakers, Madlib, Monk

Paige Brodsky: Streetlight Records - San Jose & Santa Cruz, CA
Greetings, Everyone--

Another successful Black Friday has come and gone! It was full of happy customers, busy employees and ca-chinging cash registers. Customer after customer told us how happy they are that we’re still here and thriving. Our San Jose store kept the appointment system we’ve been using since the onset of the pandemic (at our customers’ requests) and it went almost flawlessly. The Santa Cruz location uses a numbering system for the people in line and called them up in groups, also proving to be a solid system.

As always, many thanks to everyone who participated in making Black Friday happen, with an ultra big thanks to Carrie Colliton, Michael Kurtz, Andrea Paschal, Eric Levin and Luann Myers! Below are a few stats for both stores and our Top 25 1st day sellers (the indie exclusives) broken out by store location. Many thanks, and have a wonderful holiday season!

--Paige

San Jose
--Black Friday was up 36% over last year and was our biggest Black Friday EVER!
--68% sell-through first day on exclusives

Santa Cruz
--Black Friday was up 8% over last year.
--37% sell-through first day on exclusives

Chad Dryden: Record Exchange - Boise, ID
Hello industry friends,

Here’s a recap of the 2022 RSD Black Friday/Small Business Saturday at The Record Exchange.

Firstly, we set two new records over the weekend: earliest in line ever – for any RSD-related event – with one of our super customers braving the cold at 10:11pm Friday night (she posted the exact time on Instagram); and the largest Black Friday sales day in the store’s history, up 16% from the previous record set in 2021.

By the time we opened our doors, we had 50 people in line who were happy to step inside and warm up after shivering through overnight temperatures in the mid-20s. Almost to the dot we can count on 50 people each year for Black Friday, and this group represents our diehard customers who wouldn’t miss one of these events. A TV news crew visited in the morning for the first time ever to capture it all, including an interview with our first-in-line customer. The morning rush was over by 8:30am, but unlike previous years, the lull did not last – we were steady from the go, and it wasn’t yet 9:30 before the store started filling up again, and we only got busier and busier until we hit our crest mid-afternoon. We had great weather – sunny with a high of 43 degrees – and great energy in the store all day.

As for the exclusives, it was nice to have the least number of heavy allocations in years, and in most cases, people got what they wanted. We ordered with the holiday season and beyond in mind, and with fewer allocations and less demand than expected for several titles, the result was, we’re now sitting on a lot of excess inventory. Our sell-through rate was 39%, compared to 48% in 2021 and 43.5% in 2019.

Small Business Saturday was another strong day, but mellow by comparison. It was busy, and the weather was good (43 degrees and no precipitation), but it wasn’t OMG-busy like Black Friday, and we ended the day $700 short of 2021. We’ll take it, though, after a 58% increase over 2020 on our record-setting 2021 SBS.

We finished strong on Sunday, up 12% for the day over 2021, putting us at 8.5% up for the weekend over 2021.
Thank you to everyone who put the time and energy into making these exclusives happen for our stores. We’re already looking forward to RSD 2023.

Wherever you are and however you celebrate, we wish you a happy holiday season and look forward to working with you in the new year.