Urban Outfitters, the retail darling of the 18-to-30-year-old crowd, recently declared itself to be the world’s number one seller of vinyl records. Although that claim has since been disputed (Billboard says Amazon is really number one), any teen can tell you that Urban has played a key role in vinyl’s return to relevance. At the chain’s Westfield Montgomery Mall store, where records and record players are prominently featured near the entrance, manager Melissa Leiva says classic artists like Bob Marley, the Beatles and Prince sell nearly as well as contemporary acts like Lana Del Ray, the Lumineers and Mumford & Sons. “A lot of our young adult college audience wants to listen to these new artists on vinyl,” Leiva says. “But we also get a lot of parents who want to introduce the whole vinyl experience to their children.”
