I don't know how it is in the UK, but whenever I visit record shops these days, here in The Netherlands, the absolute bulk on offer is vinyl. But I got rid of all my vinyl in, ooo, 1997 or so, and am definitely not returning to it however hip vinyl may be(come). I have zero understanding of how on earth vinyl became big again.
It seems to be part of a trend among the younger generation to look for alternatives to everything being digital. The latest thing I read about was how people are starting to write letters again. Or in the case of kids, for the first time.
With vinyl I think it's being sold as something you can have alongside your streaming app or mp3 download. I've heard that the likes of Taylor Swift shift large quantities of vinyl as part of the whole merchandise pack. So it's not about sound quality as far as I can tell.
And yes, before HMV closed its shop in Lancaster there was probably as much floorspace given to vinyl and there was to CDs. We now only have a small independent record shop selling LPs and an Oxfam book and record shop selling CDs and vinyl.
