Thank you.
As we close out our 5th year in business, we want first and foremost to extend this message of THANKS to our customers. It’s hard to believe that only five years ago we struggled to ship our first order of 100 records out over the course of several weeks, and now we are processing 60-70,000 records per month. We could not have grown to this degree without the continued support of our independent minded customer base, and we are sincerely thankful for your business.
Speaking of growth, as we are sure you have heard through other sources, worldwide demand for vinyl records continues to increase. Each month we are pressing many new records for musicians who have never before released vinyl; and most of our regular customers who have been with us since our early days order nearly double the quantities they were pressing just four years ago. The increase in consumer interest for vinyl is great for all musicians/labels/record stores; but it also creates challenges for everyone in the supply chain.
In the past 12-18 months, we have continued to augment our operation to increase capacity:
- Our record plating operation started about one year ago, and continues to handle more of our plating needs; with plans on nearly doubling its capacity in early 2015.
- We added another 12” pressing machine to our operation in early 2014, and are in the early planning stages of building a “new” pressing machine to add to our operation.
- We switched to a new black vinyl formula (manufactured in the U.S.A.) in early 2014, which yields more consistent pressing results.
- We are in the midst of construction, increasing our factory and assembly space by approximately 30 percent.
- Clint Holley, our resident lacquer engineer, has added a second lathe and moved to a much larger studio space in town.
While we have plans to continue the expansion of our operation and the services we offer, the demand for vinyl continues to exceed the realistic rate at which growth in capacity can continue without sacrificing quality control and/or drastically increasing prices.
This year, our backlog is nearly 100,000 records higher than it was one year ago today. Many of our customers are wisely planning releases farther and farther in advance, and we strongly encourage everyone looking to press records in 2015 to do the same. While we certainly would like to be able to ship more records at a faster rate, we continue striving to be realistic in our turnaround time estimates, and we publish and update these estimates on our website. We encourage you to bookmark our turnaround/scheduling webpage, and feel free to call or email us with your plans, however tentative they may be, to co-plan your release dates with us.
In closing, we want to emphasize our gratitude for the business you bring to us. The records you have released, the jobs you have created, and the fun you have generated for folks like us leave an indelible mark in this vinyl world we live in. Please always feel free to call/email us with feedback and/or just to say “hi”. We look forward to keeping it independent with you for many more years to come.
NOW, FOR OUR ANNUAL FUN:
Check out our Employee Picks of 2014 – some of our favorite records pressed at GGR this year.
Holiday Specials 2014 – come and get ‘em!
