Rough Trade West

The Story

On February 23, 1976, former drama teacher Geoff Travis opened Rough Trade on Kensington Park Road in Ladbroke Grove, inspired by San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore, with the idea that a record store could be a place of community, not commerce. The name came from a Canadian punk band he admired. In 1982, three employees bought the stock for £7,000 and moved the store to Talbot Road, where it remains today. In 1978, the store spawned the Rough Trade Records label, which released The Smiths and The Libertines, and maintained important ties with The Strokes, Arcade Fire, and Portishead. It is the smallest of the London stores, at 280 m², with a curated focus on indie, punk, post-punk, and alternative music. It is London's oldest continuously operating independent record store.

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