What Electric Fetus does

Electric Fetus is an independent record store founded in 1968, headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. The company operates a single brick-and-mortar retail location at 2000 4th Ave S alongside an e-commerce storefront at electricfetus.com. Core offerings include vinyl records, CDs, and DVDs across diverse genres (rock, pop, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, blues, country, folk, classical, electronic, and world music), complemented by a broad gift and lifestyle assortment including clothing, candles, housewares, bath/body products, toys, books, candy, music accessories, and branded "Fetus Merch" apparel. Ancillary services include a used-media buyback program, gift cards, indie exclusive colored vinyl preorders, and Record Store Day exclusive releases.

The e-commerce platform is powered by Broadtime, a third-party technology provider handling product catalog, inventory, and order management; the store has no proprietary technology stack. The company maintains secondary sales channels on Discogs and eBay marketplaces, and offers in-store and curbside pickup. A minor technology feature, PlayARt, provides augmented reality experiences on select vinyl albums via iOS and Android apps. The customer base consists of music enthusiasts, vinyl collectors, and gift buyers, with no enterprise accounts and a horizontal consumer-segmentation approach. Revenue mechanics rely on physical media retail margin, unit pricing with a free shipping threshold at $75+, and a gift card program. Marketing is driven by a weekly Friday email newsletter, multi-platform social media presence (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, YouTube, TikTok, Bluesky), and annual Record Store Day events. The business is independently owned with no disclosed venture capital, private equity backing, or parent company, and the input data contains no records of M&A activity, funding rounds, or leadership changes.

Name

Electric Fetus

Legal name

Electric Fetus

Website

https://electricfetus.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Electric Fetus is an independent Minneapolis record store founded in 1968, selling vinyl, CDs, DVDs, gifts, and apparel through one retail location, an e-commerce site, and Discogs/eBay channels to music enthusiasts and collectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Physical Media Retail Sales: Retail sales of vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, and related physical music media through both in-store and online channels
2. Preorders: Advance orders for upcoming releases, including indie exclusive colored vinyl variants
3. Used Music Purchasing: Buys used vinyl, CDs and DVDs from customers for resale
4. Gift Cards: Digital and physical gift card sales for store credit

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Electric Fetus operates an independent record store from a Minneapolis storefront and an e-commerce site, selling new and used vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, and music accessories across all major genres, plus a Shop Gifts section offering clothing, candles, housewares, bath/body, books, toys, candy, and wellness items. It also offers prepaid gift cards, in-store and curbside pickup, and a program that purchases used vinyl, CDs, and DVDs from customers for resale.

Product overview

Electric Fetus is an independent record store with both a physical retail location in Minneapolis, MN and an e-commerce platform. The core offering is physical music media including vinyl records and CDs across all genres, complemented by a Shop Gifts section featuring clothing, candles, housewares, bath/body products, novelties, toys/games, books, baby/kids items, wellness products, music accessories, and candy. The store specializes in indie exclusive colored vinyl releases and participates in Record Store Day events. Additional services include buying used music media, gift cards, in-store/curbside pickup, and online ordering with fulfillment. Select albums feature PlayARt augmented reality experiences. The company maintains additional sales channels on Discogs and eBay.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Fetus Merch: Merchandise line under Electric Fetus brand featuring apparel and accessories
• Fetus Merch

Products and services

• Vinyl Records New, preordered, and used vinyl records across genres including rock, pop, R&B, hip-hop, electronic, blues, jazz, country, folk, classical, and world music, including indie exclusive colored variants. Sold to individual music enthusiasts and collectors.
• CDs Compact discs across all major music genres, with some titles available in exclusive formats. Sold to individual consumers browsing in-store and online.
• DVDs Music-related video content and concert performances distributed on DVD format. Sold to individual music and film consumers.
• Music Accessories Accessories for music listening including turntable supplies and audio equipment accessories, sold to individual vinyl and audio enthusiasts.
• Books & Stationery Music-related books and stationery items available in the Books & Stationery category on the store website, targeted at gift shoppers and music fans.
• Clothing & Apparel Apparel items including Fetus Merch branded merchandise, targeted at individual gift shoppers and fans of the store brand.
• Fetus Merch Branded merchandise line under the Electric Fetus store featuring apparel and accessories, sold to fans of the store brand and gift shoppers.
• Candles + Incense Candles and incense products available in the Shop Gifts section, targeted at gift shoppers and lifestyle consumers.
• Housewares Home goods and houseware items available through the Shop Gifts section, sold to gift shoppers and lifestyle consumers.
• Bath + Body Bath and body care products available in the Shop Gifts section, targeted at gift shoppers.
• Toys + Games Games and toys available through the Shop Gifts section of the website, sold to gift shoppers.
• Novelties Novelty items available in the Shop Gifts section, sold to gift shoppers and walk-in retail customers.
• Candy Candy products available both in-store and online, targeted at walk-in retail customers and gift purchasers.
• Baby/Kids Baby and kids items available in the Shop Gifts section, sold to gift shoppers and parents.
• Wellness Wellness products available in the Shop Gifts section, sold to individual lifestyle and gift shoppers.
• Gift Cards Digital and physical gift cards for store credit, sold to individual gift purchasers and store regulars.
• We Buy Used Vinyl, CDs & DVDs Service that purchases used vinyl records, CDs, and DVDs from customers for resale. Offered to individual music consumers clearing out their collections.
• In-Store Pickup and Curbside Pickup Fulfillment option allowing customers to order online and pick up purchases at the Minneapolis retail location via in-store pickup or curbside pickup.
• Prince-Branded Merchandise Dedicated merchandise assortment tied to the Prince brand and Minneapolis music heritage, sold to fans and gift shoppers.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Record Store DaycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOfficial Record Store Day participating retailer. Hosts exclusive releases and events during Record Store Day celebrations annually.
• BroadtimecoreTechnology or IntegrationWebsite platform provider powering the electricfetus.com e-commerce store with product catalog, inventory, and order management capabilities.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Grimey's New & Preloved Music: Nashville independent record store operating both brick-and-mortar and mail-order business. Comparable independent record store model with strong in-store event programming and indie focus.
• Rough Trade: Independent record store founded in London with locations including NYC, also selling books, music merch, and gifts. Comparable independent record store model with adjacent gift/book categories and omnichannel operations.
• Bull Moose Music: Independent record store chain operating across New England, stocking new and used CDs, vinyl, movies, books, and games. Strong comparison: similar mixed media + non-music product strategy to Electric Fetus's Shop Gifts and record-stocking model.
• Waterloo Records: Long-running independent record store in Austin, TX with deep genre expertise and a broad vinyl/CD catalog. Direct comparable on independent specialty record retail operations and Record Store Day participation.
• Dusty Groove: Chicago-based independent record store specializing in used vinyl, CDs, and select music gifts. Comparable on used-music purchasing pipeline and online mail-order fulfillment to collectors.
• Criminal Records: Independent music, book, and pop culture retailer in Atlanta with both brick-and-mortar and mail-order operations. Direct comparable in combining recorded music media with ancillary books and gift categories.
• Newbury Comics: New England-based specialty retailer of music, movies, books, and pop-culture merchandise with multiple store locations. Highly comparable business model combining music media with books, gifts, apparel, and toys—nearly identical to Electric Fetus's product mix.
• Vintage Vinyl: Independent record store in St. Louis focused on new and used vinyl and CDs across genres. Comparable operating model as an independent single-store music media retailer with strong used-inventory pipeline.
• Amoeba Music: Iconic independent record store with multi-location presence (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley), specializing in new and used vinyl, CDs, DVDs, and in-store performance events. Closest comparable to Electric Fetus on independent record store model and omnichannel retail operations.

Broad incumbents

• Amazon: Massive global e-commerce platform selling physical and digital music media at scale. Broad incumbent that competes directly with Electric Fetus for online music media sales, but at vastly different scale and without specialty curation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/efetusmpls
• YouTubeyoutube.com/ElectricFetusMN
• Facebookfacebook.com/ElectricFetusMPLS
• Instagraminstagram.com/electricfetusmpls
• TikToktiktok.com/@electricfetusmpls
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-electric-fetus

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Electric Fetus