diff --git a/app/models/place/PlaceImporter.scala b/app/models/place/PlaceImporter.scala
index 4399d28bf..0c96f3258 100644
--- a/app/models/place/PlaceImporter.scala
+++ b/app/models/place/PlaceImporter.scala
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ trait PlaceImporter { self: PlaceStore with GeoTagStore =>
 
   // Maximum number of times a gazetteer record or place link update will be retried in case of failure
   private def MAX_RETRIES = 5
+  
+  private val BACKOFF_MS = 1000
 
   /** Retrieves all places in the store that will be affected from adding the record **/
   private[place] def getAffectedPlaces(normalizedRecord: GazetteerRecord)(implicit context: ExecutionContext): Future[Seq[(Place, Long)]] = {
@@ -147,7 +149,40 @@ trait PlaceImporter { self: PlaceStore with GeoTagStore =>
     }
   }
 
-  /** TODO chain the Futures properly instead of using Await! **/
+  def importRecords(records: Seq[GazetteerRecord], retries: Int = MAX_RETRIES)(implicit ctx: ExecutionContext): Future[Seq[GazetteerRecord]] =
+    records.foldLeft(Future.successful(Seq.empty[GazetteerRecord])) { case (f, next) =>
+      f.flatMap { failed =>
+        importRecord(next).map { success =>
+          if (success) failed
+          else next +: failed 
+        }
+      }
+    } flatMap { failedRecords =>
+      Logger.info(s"Imported ${(records.size - failedRecords.size)} records")
+      if (failedRecords.size > 0 && retries > 0) {
+        Logger.warn(s"${failedRecords.size} gazetteer records failed to import - retrying")
+        
+        // Start first retry immediately and then increases wait time for each subsequent retry 
+        val backoff = (MAX_RETRIES - retries) * BACKOFF_MS  
+        if (backoff > 0) {
+          Logger.info(s"Waiting... ${backoff}ms")
+          Thread.sleep(backoff)
+        }
+        
+        Logger.debug("Retrying now.")
+        importRecords(failedRecords, retries - 1)
+      } else {
+        if (failedRecords.size > 0) {
+          Logger.error(s"${failedRecords.size} gazetteer records failed without recovery")
+          failedRecords.foreach(record =>  Logger.error(record.toString))
+        } else {
+          Logger.info("No failed imports")
+        }
+        Future.successful(failedRecords)
+      }
+    }
+  
+  /** TODO chain the Futures properly instead of using Await! **
   def importRecords(records: Seq[GazetteerRecord], retries: Int = MAX_RETRIES)(implicit context: ExecutionContext): Future[Seq[GazetteerRecord]] =
     Future {
       records.map { record =>
@@ -172,6 +207,6 @@ trait PlaceImporter { self: PlaceStore with GeoTagStore =>
           
         Future.successful(failedRecords)
       }
-    }
+    }*/
 
 }