Amoeba Music is a West Coast institution and one of the last titanic independent record shops standing. (Actually, there's three of them: one in LA, one in Berkeley, and one in San Francisco.) Urban Outfitters is a massively successful retail chain that has helped develop indie rock into a profitable lifestyle product by way of selling vinyl, hosting concerts, and other such endeavors. The two companies are joining forces on a new project that will bring Amoeba to the East Coast and theoretically offers indie cred to Urban Outfitters. Beginning 6/7, Amoeba will sell exclusive vinyl releases at the massive new Urban Outfitters "lifestyle desination" in New York's Herald Square. Explains a press release, Amoeba will stock "a curated assortment of over 400 vintage vinyl titles that can only be found in Urban Outfitters Herald Square." The 57,000-square-foot facility will also include collaborations with Hairroin Salon, the eyewear company Tortoise & Blonde, and the indie-rock-friendly Chicago coffee company Intelligentsia. (They're the ones who just released St. Vincent's signature blend.)
This is the 13th NYC-area Urban Outfitters store, and it follows closely on the heels of a big (but not quite this big) UO location that just opened in Williamsburg much to the consternation of locals.
