Grand Rapids shop ties RSD to anniversary

Black Dog Books & Records is turning Saturday, April 18 into two events at once: its two-year anniversary and its Record Store Day sale in Grand Rapids. The store says the date will bundle the usual limited-release vinyl rush with an in-house birthday party for the shop itself. (woodtv.com) That pairing only works because the anniversary lands almost exactly on the store’s opening window. Crain’s Grand Rapids reported Black Dog planned its grand opening for April 20, 2024, and The Rapidian later described that launch as happening on Record Store Day. (crainsgrandrapids.com) (therapidian.org) Black Dog is not a pure record shop that happens to stock a few paperbacks. Its own site pitches the business as a combined used bookstore and record store, and local listings place it at 959 Fulton Street East in Grand Rapids’ Midtown area. (blackdoggr.square.site) (localwiki.org) The store’s identity is unusually specific for a vinyl event. Crain’s said owner Bill Morris built Black Dog around used books, records, and titles from radical publishers after years of selling rare books online before opening his first physical shop. (crainsgrandrapids.com) Record Store Day gives a small shop a built-in crowd to celebrate in front of. The official Record Store Day site says the event began in 2007 as an idea from independent record store owners and employees, with the first Record Store Day held on April 19, 2008. (recordstoreday.com) This year’s version is set for Saturday, April 18, 2026, and the official organizers say participating stores will receive special titles from the 2026 release list for that day. That means shoppers who come in chasing one scarce pressing are walking into Black Dog’s anniversary party at the same time. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2) Grand Rapids has enough vinyl traffic for that strategy to make sense. Experience Grand Rapids said in March 2026 that the city now has more places to shop for vinyl than it has had in many years, and it highlighted Record Store Day as a citywide draw on April 18. (experiencegr.com) Black Dog also opened into a local market that was already treating Record Store Day like a launchpad. The Rapidian reported that Black Dog marked its opening on Record Store Day in 2024 alongside other Grand Rapids shops using the same weekend for events and foot traffic. (therapidian.org) So April 18 is less like hanging a birthday banner on a random Saturday and more like reopening night energy on purpose. A store that debuted on Record Store Day in April 2024 is now using Record Store Day in April 2026 to celebrate surviving its first two years in the same room. (therapidian.org) (woodtv.com)