Taylor Swift fans across the country made a mad dash to their local record stores on Thursday.
Why? The pop star gave surprise batches of signed copies of her new album “Folklore” to several independent record stores across America.
One of those stores was Grimey’s New & Preloved Music in Swift’s part-time home of Nashville, Tennessee.
The signed CDs were only available in store (or via curbside pickup) and sold out in less than an hour.
“Well, there is no doubt about it, #Swifties are SWIFT,” Grimey’s wrote on Twitter. “Thanks to you all for masking up & coming by for a signed copy of #folklore! And many thanks to @taylorswift13 for signing albums for our peeps.”
Swift made her fondness for the indie record store known in April, when she donated an undisclosed amount of money to full-time staffers, as Grimey’s was briefly shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic.
Other independent shops to receive signed CDs Thursday included Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis, Newbury Comics in Boston and Reckless Records in Chicago.
“Yeah,@taylorswift13 had already set the bar high for record store support by helping our friends at @Grimeys,” read a tweet Thursday from Zia Records, which as locations in Arizona and Las Vegas, “but her choice to support independent shops like Zia is so cool—for us, for artists, and most importantly, for fans.”
Lucky Swifties who were able to snag signed copies shared their excitement on Twitter.
“after freaking out and calling every record store that’s within a driveable distance, my cousin that lives STATES away was able to pick me up one from her local record store,” wrote user @heychaselol. “i can’t wait to get my signed folklore cd!!”
“@taylorswift13 did a wonderful thing today,” wrote user @RealAlexMaizus. “She sent signed ‘Folklore’ CD’s to struggling indie music shops all across the country with no charge. I managed to get one, album of the year for me.”
“I GOT A SIGNED CD!!!!” wrote user @fearlesssince09. “My mom and I are on vacation in Nashville and we COULDN’T BELIEVE IT!!!!”
The subdued “Folklore” was released on July 24 to glowing reviews, including one from USA TODAY’s Patrick Ryan, who called it Swift’s “most introspective and emotionally raw album yet.”
