When it was announced that Sunrise Records would be taking over many of HMV's old locations I was wondering how Sunrise would be able to make a go of things if a big company like HMV couldn't. Well, if Sunrise continues to charge the prices they are now, they'll be out of business soon too. All this stock is much cheaper on Amazon. To give you an idea of the price differential, The Beatles 1967-1970 BLUE 2LP set is $79.99 at Sunrise. It's $32.99 on Amazon. And, yes, I mean the Canadian Amazon. Sunrise have a deal now where if you buy a T-Shirt you get $5 off a record. So if you buy 9 T-Shirts the price will be on par with Amazon for this Beatles record.
As their names indicates, they specialize in vinyl and they have a lot of it. They've even got a small stock of 7 inch records, some of which are Record Store Day titles. Actually, some of their LPs are RSD titles too. (None of the cool ones though.)
They have a large stock of CDs as well. Not as many as HMV did. The CDs cost a lot of money too. They have some at discounted prices such as 2 for $10 or 2 for $20 but those seem to be few and far between. For the most part, the CDs average between $15 - $25. There is a section at the front of the store for discounted CDs starting at $6.
Their second floor is filled with DVDs and Blu-Rays. Both of those formats are breathing their last breath right now as Netflix continues to twist the knife in their hearts. Blu-Rays are around $7.99-ish. Unless it's Avengers part 6 or Return of the Son of Batman's Daughter or something like that then you're looking at around $30.
This store has a large stock of board games which judging from their recent press release seems to be what they're counting on to set them apart from other big box retailers and keep them in business. ??? They cost from $30 - $90. Ish.
Sunrise reminds me a bit of Urban Outfitters and not just because they're both radically overpriced. Sunrise also have those cheap, gaudy portable record players which sound like flies in a tin can that they sell to hipsters for $150. Crazy.
The staff are friendly and greet you at the front door - Wal-Mart style. They don't stick your bags with happy faces though. read more