Bull Moose (Retail)
FormerlyBull Moose Music
IndustryRetail
Founded1989
FounderBrett Wickard (Board Chair)
HeadquartersPortland, Maine
Number of locations
11
Key people
Shawn Nichols (President)

Chris Brown (VP of Finance)

Manny Archibald (VP of Admin)
ProductsPhysical media for music, movies, video games, and books
Websitebullmoose.com

Bull Moose is an independent retailer and record store chain based in Portland, Maine, USA. The chain has operated since 1989[1] and has eight locations in Maine and three in New Hampshire.[2]

History

A Bull Moose store located in Salem, NH, October 2019

Bull Moose was founded by Brett Wickard in Brunswick, Maine in 1989,[3] though he did not file it as a Business Corporation until 1995.[4] Bull Moose was started with $37,000.[3] Chris Brown[5] was hired in 1991 as a clerk and later became the creator of Record Store Day, and the company's Vice President.

They were covered by Bloomberg[6] 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.[7] 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. [8]

In May of 2022, Bull Moose named Shawn Nichols as its new President and CEO, with Wickard remaining on as Chairman[9]

In December 2022 it was announced that the Bull Moose Sanford location would be closing and that a new location would be opened in Biddeford, Maine. The new store is scheduled to open in early 2023. Bull Moose had previously occupied the Sanford location for 25 years. [10]

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,[11] sparked the idea for Record Store Day.[12] Each year the co-founders at the Department of Record Stores collaborate with multiple artists for exclusive releases made especially for Record Store Day.[13] The releases for 2017 included works from David Bowie, Prince, St. Vincent, and more.[14] The Department of Record Stores keeps a list of participating independent record stores.[15]

LEGO Fire Walk

The Bull Moose Facebook account posted an image of a LEGO Fire Walk[16] they created at the South Portland, ME based store to promote sales of The LEGO Movie on June 19, 2014.[17] It was shared by famous Star Trek actor George Takei, and subsequently went viral. It was also covered by local[18] news.[19]

Music Events

Bull Moose is locally known for their in-store music events with musicians like The Decemberists,[20] Mumford and Sons,[21] and Wilco.[22]

Bull Moose has hosted the following artists:

Artist Date of Performance or Signing Bull Moose Location Noteworthy Information
The Dresden Dolls Live Performance on February 6, 2005[23] Scarborough, ME
Regina Spektor Live Performance on June 5, 2005[24] Scarborough, ME Spektor released a live EP of her performance in August 2005.
Click Five Live Performance in early 2006 Scarborough, ME Click Five released a live EP of their performance in March 2006.
Rocco Deluca Autograph Signing on July 16, 2006[25] Scarborough, ME Kiefer Sutherland attended to promote Deluca.[25]
Amanda Palmer (of The Dresden Dolls) Autograph Signing on September 17, 2008[26] Portland, ME
Disturbed Autograph Signing on April 18, 2009[27] Portland, ME
Ani DiFranco Live Performance on April 17, 2009[27] Scarborough, ME Ani DiFranco performed at 1pm
Killswitch Engage Autograph Signing on April 17, 2009[27] Scarborough, ME Killswitch Engage signed autographs at 4pm
The Decemberists Live Performance on January 30, 2011[20] Scarborough, ME The Decemberists released a live EP of their performance in March 2011.[28]
Mumford & Sons Live Performance on August 3, 2012 Scarborough, ME Mumford & Sons released a live EP of their performance in April 2013[29]
Imagine Dragons Live Performance on September 10, 2012[30] Scarborough, ME
John Densmore (of The Doors) Autograph Signing on April 20, 2013[31] Scarborough, ME This was a launch for Densmore's book, The Doors: Unhinged[32] and also an event to promote Record Store Day.[33]
Mike Mills of R.E.M. Autograph Signing on April 19, 2014[34] Scarborough, ME This was an autograph signing to promote Record Store Day.
Seether Autograph Signing on May 9, 2014[35] Bangor, ME
Against Me! Autograph Signing on July 27, 2014[36] Scarborough, ME
The String Cheese Incident Live Performance on November 4, 2014[37] Scarborough, ME
Grace Potter Autograph Signing on August 19, 2015[38] Scarborough, ME
Wilco Live Performance on January 27, 2016[22] Scarborough, ME
Graham Nash Live Performance on April 16, 2016[39] Scarborough, ME This was a concert to promote Record Store Day.
Gov't Mule Live Performance on August 20, 2016[40] Scarborough, ME
All Time Low Autograph Signing on September 3, 2016[41] Bangor, ME Bull Moose released a limited run free poster for people who attended this event.[41]
Fozzy Autograph Signing on April 7, 2018 Portland, ME

References

  1. ^ "In his new company, Bull Moose's Brett Wickard uses statistics to infer customer buying patterns". Mainebiz. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  2. ^ "Bull Moose. Store Locations And Hours". www.bullmoose.com. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  3. ^ a b "With a Little Help from His Friends - Bowdoin Magazine". www.bowdoin.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  4. ^ "Search Corporate Names". icrs.informe.org. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  5. ^ "Here's the email thread that launched Record Store Day 10 years ago - News - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  6. ^ "This Small Media Store Chain Has a Big Data Edge". Bloomberg.com. 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  7. ^ "Music Retailer Bull Moose Sells Business to Employees". Billboard. January 4, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  8. ^ Hall, Jessica (May 24, 2022). "Bull Moose retail chain, now employee-owned, names new CEO".
  9. ^ "As founder exits, Bull Moose announces new CEO". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  10. ^ "Bull Moose to open at Biddeford Crossing in early 2023". 16 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Department of Record Stores". deptofrecordstores.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  12. ^ Dow, Mike. "Just take those new records off the shelf". Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  13. ^ "RECORD STORE DAY - Home". www.recordstoreday.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  14. ^ "Record Store Day 2017: Exclusive Releases Revealed". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  15. ^ "RECORD STORE DAY - Stores". www.recordstoreday.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  16. ^ Diaz, Jesus. "Nobody can survive walking barefoot on the diabolical Lego Firewalk". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  17. ^ "LEGO 'fire walk' photo from South Portland's Bull Moose goes viral - mainetoday". mainetoday. 2014-06-19. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  18. ^ "Could You Survive the Bullmoose 'Lego® Walk of Fire'?". Q97.9. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  19. ^ Elias, Alyssa (2014-06-20). "'LEGO Firewalk' picture from Bull Moose goes viral". WMTW. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  20. ^ a b "Decemberists Played Bull Moose [1.30.11] « Hilly Town: The Portland Maine Music Blog". hillytown.com. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  21. ^ "Mumford & Sons perform, plan to eat lobster". Press Herald. 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  22. ^ a b "Wilco treats fans to an in-store concert at Bull Moose". Press Herald. 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  23. ^ "Dresden Dolls In-Store SHOW - Sheri Hausey Pix". sherihausey.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  24. ^ "Regina Spektor - Live At Bull Moose". Discogs. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  25. ^ a b Thoits, Erica (2006-07-19). "'24' star visits Scarborough - Keep Me Current". Keep Me Current. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  26. ^ "Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls) « Hilly Town: The Portland Maine Music Blog". hillytown.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  27. ^ a b c "A Portland dream spins worldwide". The Forecaster. 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  28. ^ "The Decemberists | News 3.7.11 | The Decemberists". www.decemberists.com. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  29. ^ www.girafficthemes.com, Giraffic Themes |. "Mumford & Sons: Live from Bull Moose Recorded... |". mumfordandsonsblog.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  30. ^ "Watch: Remember That Time Imagine Dragons Played For About 100 People in Scarborough". 94.3 WCYY. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  31. ^ "Bull Moose, others, plan statewide celebrations for sixth annual Record Store Day". Culture Shock. 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  32. ^ Cheerleading cop goes viral at a high school football game, 20 September 2017, retrieved 2017-09-21
  33. ^ "The Doors' John Densmore at Bull Moose - mainetoday". mainetoday. 2013-02-12. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  34. ^ "R.E.M. bassist to celebrate Record Store Day at Bull Moose in Scarborough". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  35. ^ "Seether Promotes Rise Above Fest at Bullmoose". Archived from the original on 2017-09-20. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  36. ^ PR. "Against Me! to visit Bull Moose in Scarborough for in-store signing". Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  37. ^ "See The String Cheese Incident at Bull Moose in Scarborough, ME (Acoustic Performance) Friday, NOV 14th at 5pm". Loud And Proud Records. 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  38. ^ "Meet and greet Grace Potter at Scarborough Bull Moose on Aug. 19! - mainetoday". mainetoday. 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  39. ^ "Record Store Day brings Graham Nash to the Scarborough Bull Moose store Saturday for autograph signing - mainetoday". mainetoday. 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  40. ^ "Warren Haynes & Matt Abts Play Rare Acoustic Set In Maine". JamBase. 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
  41. ^ a b "'All Time Low' In Store Signing This Saturday At Bull Moose [VIDEO]". Z 107.3. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
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