Record Store Day returns with caution as one Twin Cities shop closes for testing

Twin Cities record store owners are stocking up on new limited-edition releases, used LPs and other collectibles this week just like they do before every Record Store Day.

Saturday's installment of the 13th annual international shopping day won't be like any RSD before it, though.

For starters, instead of its usual mid-April target date, music lovers' big day out is happening in August. And then in September. And again in October.

This new three-day installment — Sept. 26 and Oct. 24 are the other dates — is intended to prevent crowding and protect customers from the COVID-19 threats that sidelined RSD 2020 in the first place.

Those concerns became all too real this week when Mill City Sound in Hopkins abruptly shut its doors to self-quarantine staff after one person came down with a fever Tuesday.

The store had already stocked up on RSD releases and carefully mapped out plans to safely route customers. Now, only its website will be open for business Saturday.

Talking a day before the abrupt shutdown, Mill City Sound owner Rob Sheeley was already on edge about what he called "an event that can't be too much of an event."

"Everyone's big worry was having too many people show up at once, so they thought they'd split it up and do it over three days instead of one day," said Sheeley, who thought the do-over plan was a good idea but "still puts a lot of burden on store owners."

Each store had to come up with its own guidelines on how to safely handle potential crowds. As was Mill City Sound's plan, many Twin Cities stores are handing out numbered tickets so customers don't have to stand in line. A lot of stores are also accepting RSD orders online for the first time.

The Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, for instance, will start offering numbers at 8 a.m. Saturday and is only allowing five people at a time in its garage behind the store (where the RSD exclusives will be housed), and only 15 at a time inside the store.

"MASKS ARE REQUIRED," the Fetus' list of rules reiterates in all caps.

One benefit of the August timing, many local stores are setting up RSD bins outside in parking lots or on sidewalks, since it's believed the virus spreads easier indoors.

Barely Brothers owner Mike Elias has recruited volunteers to help route and police customers around the bins he's setting up in the lot behind his St. Paul shop.

"Usually I try to cram as many people as I can into the store, and it's just the opposite," said Elias, who usually hosts live bands and taps a keg on RSD.

"A lot of the fun has been taken out of it."

So why still host RSD?

"It's good from a marketing standpoint, and helps you stay competitive with all the other record stores that participate," Elias said.

Before Mill City's temporary shutdown, Sheeley attributed his commitment to the new three-part RSD programming out of loyalty to the independent record labels and artists that rely on it for revenue.

"It's such a big deal to some of the small to midsize players in the industry," he said.

"They had already printed up all these limited releases before the pandemic and were counting on selling them in April. It would really hurt them to keep that stuff sitting in warehouses."

There's one bit of good news amid the roller-coaster week at Mill City Sound: Its owner reports that the store itself has been enjoying steady business since reopening in June. He's not alone among local shopkeepers, though some stores are still hurting from that initial shutdown.

Though it's still uncertain how long his store will remain closed for COVID testing, Sheeley was already seeing a silver lining.

"Nobody is buying concert tickets and everybody is stuck at home, which is bad," he said. "But one good thing is at least people are enjoying records maybe more than ever before."

Here's a sample of RSD-exclusive releases available Saturday that might interest Twin Cities music lovers (more titles coming in the September and October installments).

Billie Eilish: "Live at Third Man Records" (vinyl)

Denzel Curry: "Bulls on Parade" (RATM and Bad Brains covers single)

Craig Finn: "All These Perfect Crosses" (outtakes vinyl)

Brittany Howard: "Live at Sound Emporium" (vinyl)

Nas: "God's Son" (2-LP reissue)

New Order: "John Peel Sessions 1982" (vinyl)

Iggy Pop: "Kiss My Blood (Live in Paris 1991)" (3-LP)

John Prine: "The Atlantic Albums" (4-LP)

Robyn: "Robyn" (2-LP reissue)

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658

@ChrisRstrib