About Left For Dead

 

Left For Dead turned ten years old in October 2023.

We started out as a germ of an idea, in the back of a camper van in the Australian outback, informed by a lifetime working behind the counters and in the manager's offices of HMVs, Fopps and Rises up and down the country, and the heady dislocation that comes with taking a year long world wide sabbatical.

Best intentions and gold tinted dreams hit brick wall reality in the Custard Factory, Digbeth, where Left For Dead opened it's first shop in November 2013.

18 months later we relocated to Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury.

With hindsight, I think it's fair to say that there have been better decades to open a record shop; Brexit, COVID, recession and the cost of living crisis have certainly made things much tougher than we envisioned, when we were lying beneath the Milky Way and planning our retail dream.

I used to say that for the middle-aged blokes experiencing a midlife crisis, rediscovering 'the vinyls' was much cheaper than a motorbike and less dangerous than an affair, and whilst that still rings true, the simple fact is that record sales have fallen significantly since the glorious pre-lockdown days.

Which is why today, Left For Dead is as much a book shop as it is a record shop. We've always stocked a well curated selection of books, and in the past 18 months we've significantly expanded our - still lovingly curated - range of titles.

The best way to experience Left For Dead is still in person - coming to the shop and browsing our selection of records and books. We can't stock everything, but we'll do our best to get you what you want or offer you something you didn't know existed until you walked through the door; our mission remains the same - whether it's a book or a record, we champion the alternative and the eclectic, the authors and bands often overlooked by the high street brands. 

And if you can't find what you're looking for, don't be shy, let us know! Independent shops are the lifeblood of every high street and it's a reciprocal relationship.

Contact the shop in the face: pop in, say hello!

or by telephone:

01743 622 468, 

or by email:

left_for_dead@outlook.com