Sub Pop to Open Record Store in Seattle Airport

Sub Pop Records, the label that discovered Nirvana, the Postal Service and Mudhoney, is taking flight toward a new venture: airport record store. Beginning in April, travelers passing through Washington’s Seattle-Tacoma International Airport will be able to purchase albums from the label’s catalog. The label also posted a job description for a store manager who has “knowledge of the Sub Pop catalog, Pacific Northwest music, the Seattle music community and the ciy of Seattle.” 

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The Sub Pop Retail Store, as it’s referred to in title caps, will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and will keep employees working 365 days a year. Beyond a focus on music from the Northwest and adherence to TSA regulations and restrictions, the label has not yet disclosed what kind of music store it will be, such as whether or not it will emphasize vinyl.

2013 was a nostalgic year for the iconic Seattle label. In July, the label threw a 25th anniversary “silver jubilee” concert that featured performances by Mudhoney, J. Mascis, Built to Spill and more. The event included a memorabilia exhibit, a Sub Pop comedy showcase and a panel discussion on the label’s early days featuring Sub Pop co-founders Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt.

Last August, the label posted its original recording contract with Nirvana (leading to the release of their 1989 debut album Bleach), with Pavitt releasing the e-book Experiencing Nirvana that followed the band from Rome to London on their 1989 tour.

“After Kurt’s death, I just wasn’t that interested in leafing through it,” Pavitt told Rolling Stone. “It stayed in the attic for a long time. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I’ve come back to listening to Nirvana’s music and going through the box and thinking about that time.”