Dundee vinyl record specialist Assai has reported an increase in sales during lockdown as more people embrace music.
Assai operates shops in Dundee’s Union Street and Edinburg but sells the majority of its products online via the Amazon marketplace.
Owner Keith Ingram says that online sales have grown significantly on the platform since lockdown began in Scotland in March, as more people make the most of their turntables.
He said: “Around 70% of our customers are online. We ship a lot of our stock to Europe – mainly Italy, France and Germany as well as the United States. However, we’ve noticed a significant increase in Scottish customers.
“A big reason for the spike is the fact that many of us have much more time at home to enjoy music. I’m a firm believer that music can bring huge benefits for mental health and can be a source of companionship and normality for those who are more isolated.”
Despite needing to close both of its shops due to the coronavirus pandemic, Assai, which employs 17, has managed to continue safely trading by using an internet fulfilment location.
Mr Ingram said that as well as the increased sales on Amazon, traffic had also increased to Assai’s own website as people continue to support independent retailers.
During lockdown, Record Store Day organisers and BBC 6 Music encouraged people to ‘fill the gap’ in their collections to support independent record stores.
Assai Records, which also has its own record label, has continued to support the Scottish music scene despite the lockdown.
Mr Ingram said: “We have helped with two recent releases which entered the Scottish Top 100 album Charts.
“stmartiins are a young Dundee-based band who reached number 14 in the charts, and we reissued an archive release from another band, The Swiss Family Orbison – originally released in 1997 on CD.
“We reissued this record on vinyl for the first time on May 1 and it reached No. 11 in the Scottish Album charts.”