Bull Moose is an independent retailer and
record store chain based in
Portland, Maine, USA. The chain has operated since 1989 and has eight locations in
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
and three in
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
.
History
Bull Moose was founded by Brett Wickard in
Brunswick, Maine in 1989,
though he did not file it as a
Business Corporation until 1995. Bull Moose was started with $37,000.
Chris Brown was hired in 1991 as a clerk and later became the creator of
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
, and the company's Vice President.
They were covered by Bloomberg for using predictive algorithms to drive media sales.
On January 4, 2022, it was announced that Bull Moose would be sold to its 140 employees. Founder Brett Wickard will stay on as interim CEO and chair of the board during the transition. In January of 2022, Bull Moose became 100% employee-owned and created an employee stock ownership plan for its over 170 employees across 11 stores.
In May of 2022, Bull Moose named Shawn Nichols as its new President and CEO, with Wickard remaining on as Chairman
Record Store Day
In 2007, when Brown was head of Bull Moose marketing, an email chain with Michael Kurtz, head of the Department of Record Stores, sparked the idea for
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
. Each year the co-founders at the
Department of Record Stores collaborate with multiple artists for exclusive releases made especially for Record Store Day. The releases for 2017 included works from
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
,
St. Vincent
Saint Vincent may refer to:
People Saints
* Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr
* Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia
* Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...
, and more. The Department of Record Stores keeps a list of participating independent record stores.
LEGO
Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...
Fire Walk
The Bull Moose
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
account posted an image of a LEGO Fire Walk they created at the
South Portland, ME based store to promote sales of
The LEGO Movie on June 19, 2014. It was shared by famous
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
actor
George Takei, and subsequently went viral. It was also covered by local news.
Music Events
Bull Moose is locally known for their in-store music events with musicians like The Decemberists,
Mumford and Sons,
and Wilco.
Bull Moose has hosted the following artists:
References
{{reflist
Music retailers of the United States
Companies based in Portland, Maine
Companies based in New Hampshire
1989 establishments in Maine
Retail companies established in 1989
Independent stores
Music industry