Luna Record Shop Readies for Record Store Day

More than 3,000 records are en route to Luna Record Shop in Franklin to prepare for Record Store Day on Saturday — or so co-owner Brenna Gentry hopes. 

That is a certifiable “crap load,” especially compared to the 9,000 records the store inside The Factory at Franklin holds, Gentry says.   

“If I ordered 20 to 60 of [one title] and I only got two, I know hearts are getting broken everywhere because it may be a title that was limited to 1,800 copies, and there's at least 1,500 shops doing record store days,” Gentry tells the Williamson Scene.  

This year, for the first time, Gentry sent out a poll to customers: which Record Store Day release are you the most excited about? The top answer was Charli XCX’s “party 4 u” 7-inch single. Paramore’s release of “All We Know is Falling (Deluxe)” took second place. So she ordered 60 or so copies of each. 

It’s a stacked year for releases, judging by the increase from 1,800 records Gentry ordered last year. It’s diverse, too, she says with more than 300 releases including alternative band Weezer, pop artist Taylor Swift, rapper Big Sean and classic rocker Rod Stewart. Over the years, she's seen the list expand beyond the traditional audience of men over 40 who collected vinyl records in their heyday to increasingly include artists with mainly female or mainly young fanbases. 

“They have to make a list that can be enjoyed by a lot larger market than when they first did it,” she says.  

Gentry estimates she’ll get around 75 percent of what she requested. The Record Store Day releases will be set up in the hallway outside the store, which is offering 20 percent off used vinyl that day. 

“We've ordered a lot. The chances of them getting most of what they want are high,” Gentry says. “But the allocations, we can't help. There was a lot of stuff that was really limited.” 

Luna Record Shop has attracted people from outside of Franklin for a couple of reasons, Gentry believes: because there are less people to compete with, and they get to wait inside the Factory where there is food and drink.

In order to get the titles they’re coveting, customers line up the day before outside the Factory at Franklin to be let in early in the morning. Last year, they started at 3 p.m. on Friday, and Luna opens at 9 a.m. on Saturday. 

Gentry looks out for newbies, with a detailed description of the event and its order of operations on the shop's website. “Everyone is chill and nobody grabs over your shoulder,” she assures. 

“I don't want anybody to have anxiety about it,” she says. “I want them to have a good time.”