The world’s best record shops #091: Lucky Records, Reykjavík
Love all, serve all.
Every week, we pick out one must-visit spot from a different city around the world with photos and a little bit of history. Think of it as a kind of 1000 places to see before you die for record shops.
The first visit to Iceland on our grand record shopping tour takes us to the biggest vinyl emporium on the island, Lucky Records.
Lucky Records
Location: 105, Rauðarárstígur 10, Reykjavík, Iceland
Go for: Icelandic music, new and second-hand
What’s the story? Despite the name, there’s nothing fortuitous about the Lucky Records story. Starting life as a stall at a flea market in downtown Reykjavik back in 2004, it was five years before Lucky Records had a physical home to call its own, and another four until it settled at current location Rauðarárstígur.
Methodically building up a dedicated audience who come for the records and stay for the in-stores, Lucky is now the biggest record shop in Iceland and thus takes a broach church approach to its offerings.
Be it new or second releases from across genres and formats, with a generous helping of Icelandic music on the side (visitors should make a bee line for the boxes of local vinyl), Lucky also sell turntables, hi-fi gear, headphones, DVDs and music merch, making it something of a one-stop shop in the capital.
