Third Man plans to house at least eight vinyl presses at their new Detroit location.

While this news isn’t unheard of or unprecedented at large—four pressing plants have opened in the United States so far this year—Third Man’s will be the first to open in Detroit since the family-operated Archer Record Pressing started up in 1965. (Soon after Third Man hatched the idea to add record manufacturing to their business model they flat-out offered to buy Archer, but were denied.) Opening a pressing plant is a nice idea, but it takes a wealth of knowledge and something even more elusive: pressing equipment. These machines are a sought-after commodity—rare, and often in disrepair—and a recent New York Times article detailed the “global rush” to find, purchase, and restore existing presses. “It’s very hard to try to get traction in that world,” Blackwell says. “If you don’t know someone who has old presses, good luck knocking on every warehouse door in the Midwest hoping to find some.”

Eventually, Third Man got a line on some presses down in Mexico, so Blackwell flew down in June to inspect them. But the deal fell apart (and the equipment went to the Virginia-based pressing company Furnace). Then, confidentially, he told a friend about Third Man’s intentions to get into the pressing game. That’s how they came into contact with a North American sales representative for a German startup called Newbilt that’s dedicated to building new machines and refurbishing old ones. “You hear people say, ‘Nobody’s making new vinyl presses,’” Blackwell says. “But these guys are making them and they’re selling them.”

While the pressing plant won’t be operational when Third Man opens on Black Friday, they eventually plan to house at least eight working presses. A window in the shop will let customers see the manufacturing floor as part of Third Man’s ongoing initiative to educate the public about vinyl culture and show that, as Blackwell puts it, “all this stuff is alive and well.”

While the manufacturing arm definitely means that Third Man will have quick access to pressings of their own output, Blackwell says the decision to open the plant is a selfless act. He argues that more overall record-pressing capacity eases the pressure on plants like United Record Pressing in Nashville, which continues to press Third Man releases, and Archer—both of which are backed up and reportedly turning away customers. Also, while no plans are currently in place, Third Man hope to press more than just their own records on-site. Potentially, the plant could offer a new option for young artists and DIY labels. “Part of the concern in this world is that vinyl can very easily turn into an exclusionary thing,” Blackwell says. “But this is going to make it easier for a little punk band to make 300 copies of a 7".”

Blackwell is coy about what else the label has planned for Third Man Detroit, but he makes it clear that the new store will be its own animal. “People shouldn’t expect a photocopy of what we’re doing in Nashville,” he says. “There’s a hope that we do things in Detroit that make us up our game in Nashville.” This is not just hype, bluster, and tourist-trap nonsense, as the bins in the new store will be stocked with records, new and old, by Detroit artists—including two new Third Man signees that have been toiling in the city for quite some time.