Renowned Bristol record shop announces temporary closure

A record shop in St Paul’s will be shutting its doors later this month until further notice.

Idle Hands, an independent record label and shop originally opened on Stokes Croft in 2011 before moving to City Road in 2017.

The owner, Chris Farrell, made a statement about the shop’s closure in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

“I’m sad to say our time on City Road is coming to an end with the shop closing later this month. Since Omicron hit just before Christmas the shop has struggled, with less people popping in and Brexit making EU trade pretty much unworkable for a business this small.”

Chris was clear this was not the end for Idle Hands however: “These are tricky times, but I do believe Idle Hands still has a future. A future that involves more centrally located premises, a refresh and a new strategy to make the business more sustainable.”

Chris has said finding a new location has been more difficult than planned.

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“When I decided not to renew our lease I had hoped to make a smooth transition to a new location – although there have been options I’ve been pursuing, the retail rental market is also in a bit of a state and that hasn’t been possible.

“Sadly we’re going to have to close the physical shop until something comes up, as as a business that has been primarily about selling over the counter this is likely to hit us hard.”

Chris launched a crowdfunder on Wednesday morning which he hoped would “alleviate some of the costs of being closed, and the overheads involved in moving during a cost of living crisis.”

A number of Bristol music venues such as Strangebrew have already lent their support on social media, whilst esteemed Bristol DJs such as Batu have donated to Idle Hands’ crowdfunder page. Dave Harvey, who runs the Bristol-based events company, Team Love has also donated.

Idle Hands specialises in dance music, selling new and old records – Photo: Mia Vines Booth

Supporters have also reached out on social media and the shop’s crowdfunder, with one calling the shop “an absolute staple of Bristol” and another calling Idle Hands “vital for Bristol and the music ecosystem.”

Finn Treadaway, a local regular at Idle Hands called the record shop “an undeniably Bristol institution that has shaped the journeys of many local DJs and producers.”

“Idle Hands has coexisted with my own journey of getting into music and buying records, and is responsible to quite a large extent for the taste I have in music,” he continued.

“It’s an internationally recognised shop, and you can see that in the way that DJs who don’t live in the UK are sharing this on their [Instagram] stories.”

In an update on Crowdfunder this afternoon, Chris said “I’ve been overwhelmed with the support this has received.”

Originally aiming for £2000, the campaign has already smashed its target, with supporters donating nearly £3,500 as of Wednesday afternoon.

The record shop is going to be giving away records at a lower price over the next few weeks in the lead up to its closure.

The web shop and online music database Discogs will still operate whilst the shop is closed.

Main photo: Mia Vines Booth

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