Golden Discs, officially Golden Disc Group Ltd., is

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

's largest and oldest home-entertainment specialist retail chain.

History

Origins and Early History

Golden Discs was established in 1962 on

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

's Tara Street by Jack Fitzgerald and Tom Rogers as Trans-Atlantic Record Agency (TARA), in the location of the former Tara Records founded by George O'Reilly. The name ''Golden Discs'' was first used in 1966. The chain experienced rapid growth in the 1970s and 1980s, opening 30 outlets including five in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Decline

The chain's presence around the country had diminished in the early part of the 2000s, making a significant loss by 2008 and entering

examinership Examinership is a process in Law of the Republic of Ireland, Irish law whereby the protection of the Court is obtained to assist the survival of a company. It allows a company to restructure with the approval of the High Court (Ireland), High ...

in 2009, with multiple shop closures during this period, in line with similar trends with other physical music and movie retailers in other markets.

Tesco Ireland Partnership

In November 2016 it was announced that Golden Discs concessions would move into more than half of

Tesco Ireland Tesco Ireland Limited is the Republic of Ireland, Irish subsidiary of supermarket group Tesco. Tesco Ireland was formed by Tesco plc's 1997 purchase of the Irish retailing operations of Associated British Foods, namely Powers' Supermarkets Limi ...

's supermarkets as part of a three-year commercial agreement. "Golden Discs at Tesco" concessions operated as standalone units within Tesco supermarkets, offering CDs, DVDs and Games. The agreement made Golden Discs Ireland’s largest home-entertainment retailer with 96 locations nationwide. This agreement came to an end in 2019.

Expansion

In 2013, Golden Discs reported its first profit since 2008 and has expanded its retail footprint since. In 2017, the company set about its first attempts at expansion since the national economic recession with the opening of three new branches in November of that year located in The Square Town Centre, Tallaght, Main Street,

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

and a pop up shop at 52 Henry Street, Dublin 1. There was also a complete overhaul of the website in the same year to include making its full product offering available for purchase online. In 2018, shops opened in

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...

Town Centre Shopping Centre, Co Meath, Market Cross Shopping Centre,

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

and

Liffey Valley Shopping Centre Liffey Valley Shopping Centre is a shopping centre located in Dublin, Ireland which comprises 80 stores and 20 restaurants. The centre opened on and is located near the junction of the M50 motorway and N4 road closely surrounded by Lucan to ...

, Dublin. In 2019, an increase in turnover to €13.2m and profits to €192,000 was cited as being down to an increase in sales of vinyl. The company opened new stores in

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

Tralee Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

and Jervis Shopping Centre.

During and after the Covid-19 pandemic

Like all other Irish retailers, the chain shut its doors in March 2020 due to concerns regarding public health and safety in the Covid-19 pandemic. The company offered click-and-collect services from various shops during lockdown periods. Golden Discs stores re-opened in June 2021. The company celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2022. In 2022, the company closed its branch in

, and subsequently closed two of its

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

shops in 2023, diminishing its presence in

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. In 2023, the company also closed its

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

shop after 26 years.

Operations

Products

Golden Discs stocks most formats of physical music and movies, including LP records, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and 4K Ultra-HD discs. Golden Discs also focuses on hardware, stocking various turntables, speakers and headphones. Recently, the company has expanded its footprint in Merchandise and K-Pop music.

Locations

As of November 2023, there are 19 branches of Golden Discs (excluding the online store) located throughout Ireland: * Dublin:

Blanchardstown Blanchardstown () is a large outer suburb of Dublin in the modern Counties of Ireland, county of Fingal, Ireland. Located northwest of Dublin city centre, it has developed since the 1960s from a small village to a point where Greater Blanchards ...

, Dundrum, Jervis Street, Liffey Valley,

Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by L ...

Swords A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

, and

Tallaght Tallaght ( ; , ) is a southwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The central village area was the site of a monastic settlement from at least the 8th century, which became one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres. Up to th ...

. * Rest of Leinster:

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

, Newbridge, and

. * Connacht: Eyre Square (Galway City) and

. * Munster: Patrick's Street (Cork City) and

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

Pop Merchandise

In 2022, Golden Discs launched a concept shop, Pop Merchandise (styled as 'POP!'), across most of its outlets as an in-store division specialising in music and movie-related merchandise. The company cited a dramatic increase in interest around pop culture products as the driving force for the new concept shop. The company has also said it may open stand-alone Pop shops.

Vinyl8

The Golden Disc Group also owns and operates 'Vinyl8', an online-only shop launched specifically for vinyl enthusiasts and people between the ages of 18 and 24.

Loyalty Programme

Golden Discs overhauled their customer loyalty program as ''Golden Discs VIP'' which awards points or 'discs', which can be accumulated and redeemed on all products.

References

{{Reflist
'Vinyl revival' and new stores keep profits spinning at Golden Discs

Golden Discs records first profit in more than five years

Golden Discs reports a return to profit

* ttp://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2013/1022/481943-golden-discs/ Golden Discs back in Stephen's Green from Thursday

External links

Official SiteFacebookInstagramTwitter
Music retailers of Ireland Retail companies established in 1962