Transmission calls Margate home.
It started with the idea of escaping the chokehold of London in 2014 and relocating near the sea.
Founded by Spencer Hickman & Kimberley Holladay, it’s a culmination of passions that include records, toys and booze.
Spencer has worked in the music industry in some form for the last 35 years. He is currently Head Of Music for soundtrack reissue label Mondo & Death Waltz Recording Co. and previously managed Rough Trade East and founded Record Store day in the UK. Kimberley’s background is in visual FX; you’ll see her credits on such films as Godzilla, Thor, Ex Machina and many more she is also a fine artist that has supplied art for record labels, Beer companies and Tuk shoes.
The shop is a reflection of the things we are into so a lot of soundtracks, Ambient electronica, Post Punk, Metal and Japanese pressings. We try and get to Tokyo once a year on a buying trip and have a buyer located in Japan that regularly sends us boxes of stock. There is something magical about Japanese pressings, the obis, the quality and the fact that a 50-year-old Black Sabbath original can look and sound better than a lot of later pressings, the Japanese are collectors and know how to look after things!
Other things that keep us busy are toys and booze! We have had several collaborations with international designer toy companies such as Unbox, Izumonster & Awesome Toys and we are currently gearing up for a new batch of exclusives and our very first toy produced in conjunction with Unbox Industries.
We also have an alcohol license so we can smoke you an old fashioned or pour you a nitro infused Espresso Martini.
Being on the coast in a small town means that we have a small (but loyal) customer base that visits us weekly in store (we miss you guys!). Still, a lot of our business is online so although the current situation has seen us close our doors not much has changed in our day to day operations as we have always been busier on mail order than in the physical shop. What this means for the future we are not entirely sure, but our store is tiny so could probably only have a couple of people in-store at a time with social distancing. We shall see.
Love Record Stores has been excellent, and it great to see the community coming together, and we are super excited for June 20th! It’s going to be great to see all these stores coming together at a time when they desperately need it, summer is going to be insanely tight, and this is just the shot in the arm that stores, labels and fans need right now to see us all through to the other side.
