What Is Your Ideal of a Physical Record Store?

What should it have? What should it lack? What are prime examples of what you love?

I’m not starting a store or anything, but wonder what others are looking for in this regard.

This thread was inspired by a friend - someone who has never gone music shopping with me - who recommended a store, with some enthusiasm, that was a huge disappointment when I got there because it was so primarily a vinyl-centered store.

I realize that the first two questions probably seem too broad - so go as wide or as narrow as you like.

I have two ideals: firstly, knowledgeable owners with a deep love of lots of interesting, off-the-beaten-track music and there's about 100 amazing records in there that you've never even heard of before but you feel like want to buy them all there and then. and secondly, deeply ignorant owners who put all the good stuff straight in the quid bins on the floor. But other than that, just nice friendly people working there - I went to one place yesterday that had a tiny selection of completely dreadful records, but I stayed there for a good long time looking through everything and had a good chat with the owner shout sorts of music, and in the end walked out with the least worst record I could find to buy, just to support them and thank them for what was actually a fun experience

shout about all

It doesn't have to be HUGE, but well selected. Should have both new and used sections. I also love places with novel organizing schemes — not just by genre but label or producer or vibes or whatever. Also, cool music on the in-store PA!

It should sell Negronis.

I've never been in a record store with a bar, but I am open to it!

Deja Vu records in Natick MA.

The defunct Cake Shop in NYC's Lower East Side was that, although the records were kind of a side business to their live music shows

Havent been to any of the london ones for years but Rough Trade in Bristol is pretty close to perfect: good selection of both new and used at good prices, a sale section stuffed with gems, a coffee shop/bar, customer toilets (hey i'm old!), interesting books, good vibes, a space for gigs... you might perhaps want them to go a bit deeper into some genres, but I walked out with a whole bunch of good, diverse stuff last time

Cake Shop sold records and had a full bar, just to clarify my post

"Deja Vu records in Natick MA."

hahaha!

I've never been in a record store with a bar, but I am open to it!

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra)

Sweat Records in Miami did!

i only laugh at deja vu as a choice because she makes me laugh and also its the kind of store that most people would run screaming from. no rhyme or reason and no prices on anything. also, after i spent hours in there and had had it and was going to leave she says to me: "do you want to see the room with better stuff?" i almost cried. but i still laughed. i even made a video in a comedy voice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNHG7Lqk6gI

that looks fantastic despite my aversion to unpriced places

this was the craziest place I ever went to...

https://i.ibb.co/pnFqNsS/20231015-162212.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/NWbNFvW/20231015-162226.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/Sxht0Yv/20231015-162233.jpg

spent about an hour in there digging about and trying not to cause an avalanche of some sort. came out with some 70s battiato for cheap iirc, a good day!

actually my own record room looks pretty close to the state of that at the moment tbh, expect mine also has piles of gardening tools in all the gaps

Really, all I care about is price and condition, not the physical layout of the store (I take it for granted that records will be organized and shelved in a way that doesn't make it feel like work to browse). You should be able to find something you want for $10 or under that's in good shape. Ideally, there's a sale bin of cheaper stuff (also in good shape). For me, the less space devoted to insanely overpriced 300-g titanium-plus reissues or whatever, the better.

So my ideal store barely exists anymore.

I think Amoeba comes closest to my ideal, but it irks me that you can't listen to used vinyl before purchasing

Like the post above, I don't want records unpriced. I'm the world's worst negotiator and don't even want to have to think about that. (I've rarely encountered such stores in my life, happily.)

hate having the feeling that either they're gonna size you up to see how much they can squeeze out of you, or they're relying on you to look through all the rubbish to find the good stuff for them and then they ask an exorbitant for it. you can get some good deals in those places, but do you really want to spend ages looking and then find out that they're going to charge you a fortune?

I guess that's where having a chat with owner comes in though, pretty easy to spot the sharks before you start digging

it needs to be a cool place to hang out with no gatekeepers and optional levels of sociability and nice pink fluffy chairs for sitting and listening and there should be cake

the main thing that put me off record shops when they existed apart from the money was the fear that my taste (or choice of medium) was always being sneered at and found wanting by the extremely intimidating staff (why are they all so tall?) this was totally a me problem which I created out of maybe one or two borderline experiences

This is my ideal record store: http://memorylaneonwalterslane.blogspot.com/?m=1

Situated in a shopping mall off Marlboro pike, speakers outside bumping soul music. Inside, an incredible selection of jazz, soul, rnb. They’ve got a Motown section, a stax section, all sorts of local DC go go and world music. The two guys that run it are as knowledgeable as you’ll find and nice as shit

There's a shop in Edinburgh (B@ckb3@t) that's so crowded and cluttered no-one can even get in. Apparently the way it works is that you tell the proprietor what you're after and he'll disappear inside to find the overpriced, poor condition stock he has by that particular artist for you and he to then haggle over. Sounds totally insane, you can see pix (and reviews!) on Google Maps.

Anyway, ideal record shop = well-sourced, diverse and dynamic stock with friendly yet non-overbearing staff and a good and realistically-priced second-hand section. Also a mix of formats with no sneering at the CD purchasers. Plus no hangers-on. Does this place exist anywhere?

I think I've been there, Nick - is it in Addlestone, near Woking? Not been for ages but have always found something interesting.

I went to a record store yesterday in Whitstable. Very much an older English gent's store, everything vaguely centred around Mod concerns eg well curated jazz section, reggae, ska, 50s rock, a Northern Soul section for 45s etc. It didn't actually have a ton of stuff I was interested it, but I did get a Hampton Hawes Trio record (an original pressing I think) and there were tons of Joe Gibbs represses which I would have bought all of, if I were made of money.

This was the kind of shop where two old geezers are always in there, chatting to the proprietor, and he humours them, in line with his mood. While I was flipping through the jazz section one old dude comes in with a kind of furtive look on his face, sunglasses, trilby hat, a couple of carrier bags, and a 45 clutched in one hand. He approaches the counter, addresses the owner, and eventually says "would you put a record on for me, without knowing what it is? I've got it right here." The owner put him off for awhile and eventually acquiesced. It was The Beatles, Lady Madonna. What a letdown.

xp no i've not been to that one - will have to check it out!

it was the legendary rob's records in nottingham...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTd7zY9WqEQ

shit wrong video, this one's a bit more concise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTd7zY9WqEQ

Ahhhh, Rob's Records! A true cult classic of a record shop.

And that's the thing - if you ask for an ideal record shop it wouldn't be Rob's Records, but I've probably never been as excited by any other shop in my life. It's got personality.

oops thats the same one again, oh lord what a fanny, i give up xp

yes emil.y - its great!!

It looks incredible! Last time I was in Archive (the Addlestone one), I only lasted about 10 minutes. Claustrophobia got the better of me.

I always used to say my ideal death would be being crushed to death under a record avalanche in Rob's Records, lol.

<3

all I care about is a decent section of used LPs, that's all I ask

While I was flipping through the jazz section one old dude comes in with a kind of furtive look on his face, sunglasses, trilby hat, a couple of carrier bags, and a 45 clutched in one hand. He approaches the counter, addresses the owner, and eventually says "would you put a record on for me, without knowing what it is? I've got it right here." The owner put him off for awhile and eventually acquiesced. It was The Beatles, Lady Madonna. What a letdown.

haha! i was in a similar place recently and some old boy started talking about a record he'd found in a charity shop earlier that day, Dr Pepper by the Beatles

Found some footage of the mad place I went to in Kobe, a high percentage of this stuff was enka as I recall it. This is what happens when you're not picky and are located in a shoebox.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZd8De5hFMo

Record stores keep disappointing me, I don't mind an emphasis on higher-end vintage vinyl but when the common LPs of the '70s from dollar bin stalwarts begin creeping up towards ten bucks, it's a sign that I'm in the wrong store. My ideal record stores probably don't exist anymore though when I went to Angry Mom I Ithaca NY a few years ago and found a bunch of classics for $4-5, it was like discovering a unicorn.

Went to amoeba in Hollywood yesterday and it was kind of fruitless to be honest.

king tubby record @ 1:21 just to spur you into spending another 2 hours rummaging there, just in case xps

Steady Sounds (RIP)

Record shops I have loved.
Sounds Familiar local record shop local to where unspent my teens. 2nd hand and decently priced. Found some awesome stuff in there would spend a couple of hours in every couple of weeks going through entirety. Turned onto some great stuff from miscellaneous section before World music had really become a thing.
Local and maybe not as all encompassing as I would want later. Somehow had Mercury Rev Yerself Is Steam before it got much press. & I think a couple other things as new around same time. Not sure what deal there was.

Rough Trade in various forms around London. Some great finds. Diverse stock. Good magazine and books.
Still a place I'd probably hit in London if I was there. Rough Trade East at least.

The 2 Bills on the other stretch of Talbot rd.
Fantastic finds.

I think I was only in Recommended in Wandsworth once or twice but think that had good stuff. Think it had weird times though.

Ugly Child which took over from Small Wonder in Hoe st Walthamstow.

I did hit Virgin and HMV quite a bit in London and especially Dublin. Would go through full racks in Dublin regularly finding things that had slipped between racks or filing divisions. & enjoying the stuff that turned up on sales even if it wasn't very cheap.
Tower also good. Jazz & ethnic department in Piccadilly was good.

I think diversity, price and layout important. Finding surprises also really good.
Really enjoyed listening posts but technology developed beyond that.
Good reading section very good too.

Having facility for live events very good too.
Knowledgeable staff helps. Especially if not snotty.

Scott may chuckle at this but at its peak Gerosa Records in Brookfield Connecticut had everything, reasonable prices, well organized and clean lots of import CDs pre internet era.

my ideal record store was The Beat! here in Sac, (long gone for 15 years now)

Huuuuge space, big high ceilings, lots of windows, coffee bar up front
Vinyl on the left side
CD’s on the right
New and used in the same rack sorted by genre, artist etc - plus a new-only section up front

the large space was ideal, even if there were a lot of people it was never crowded
& it just had a great relaxed welcoming vibe where you could happily browse for a long time & always come away with great stuff

i miss it

i only laugh at deja vu as a choice because she makes me laugh and also its the kind of store that most people would run screaming from. no rhyme or reason and no prices on anything. also, after i spent hours in there and had had it and was going to leave she says to me: "do you want to see the room with better stuff?" i almost cried. but i still laughed. i even made a video in a comedy voice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNHG7Lqk6gI

― scott seward, Sunday, 15 October 2023 14:14 (four hours ago) link

and you're not wrong! i was honestly shocked it was still opened before i made the post - haven't been there in 10+ years! definitely not a first timers place, but one of those places where if you have some time and no real agenda, you could walk out with a lot of great stuff. had to assume she turned over a lot. i have these fond memories of making it a point to walk in and see just how much quality i could get with a $20 bill.

there's a place i visited out on long island, ny that had a similar vibe - tons of boxes of unpriced records. only issue was you'd bring a pile up and he'd spend the next 30 minutes deep-researching the prices online to try and nickel and dime a customer. i get it, owner needs to keep the place open and all, but trying to charge $30 for a VG- at best copy of "Muswell Hillbillies" when there were 5 additional copies in boxes maybe ain't the smartest way to get repeat customers.

The (mighty mighty) House of Guitars in Rochester is another example of the "chaotic good" record store ideal. I took this photo in July, it has looked like this ever since my teenage years. The musical instrument rooms upstairs are more or less the same, just massive volumes of stuff — some no doubt quite valuable — piled all over hither and yon.

https://i.imgur.com/iTdQNtN.jpg

"Record stores keep disappointing me, I don't mind an emphasis on higher-end vintage vinyl but when the common LPs of the '70s from dollar bin stalwarts begin creeping up towards ten bucks, it's a sign that I'm in the wrong store."

you should see what milk and eggs go for now. i could buy a dozen eggs for 80 cents in the 80s! and don't get me started on gas prices. costs me 50 bucks to fill my tank. i used to buy comics for 25 cents!

see what i did there....

scott otm

we have an entire thread devoted to current bargain record deals, but I get the feeling clemenza thinks Neil Young and Led Zep records should still be $5 and yeah this isn't 2003.

"Scott may chuckle at this but at its peak Gerosa Records in Brookfield Connecticut had everything, reasonable prices, well organized and clean lots of import CDs pre internet era."

when i moved back to ct. in the grunge era for a couple of years it was a treasure trove for vinyl. brian had gone ALL IN on CDs - everyone had obviously - and his records were an afterthought price-wise. it was awesome.

i started buying records from him in 1979/1980! when he worked at the record broker in danbury. then i started buying punk from him in 1982/1983 when he sold at the elephant's trunk flea market. then at his own store.

when i opened my little store in philly in 1995 people thought i was crazy because CDs ruled. and when i opened my store in 2009 here people thought i was crazy because it was the great depression or something. but records and books don't live by society's rules. we don't make much money but if you work reasonably hard and pick the right spot - rent in the number one key - you can avoid the rat race forever. and be covered in mold and dust.

EVERYONE on ILX no matter who you are could find something good and cheap at my store. i stock it for people like me. and sometimes those people leave the cities they live in and take a drive to the woods.

what vaporwave do you have

and be covered in mold and dust.

lol <3

^ not a condition of visiting
Where is your shop?

The increase in record prices just feels like something more than inflation, it feels like something that happened in a major way during the pandemic. I mean if people are spending that kind of money more power to them. And if stores can sell records for that amount, it's good to know they're cashing in! I think it wouldn't bother me as much if the records I see at some of these places were in actually good condition. There's a store called the record parlor in Hollywood which is very very good about being Instagram friendly but you go in there and they have common records for 10 bucks a piece and they're in terrible shape. And people love that store! Conversely there's one called run out groove in Burbank which has similar pricing but their records are in great condition. Either way though I'm not sure Linda Ronstadt records from the '70s, as great as they are, should be over 10 bucks. I think the biggest problem is probably just so many of these stores that have popped up in recent years stocking really common garbage and pretending like they're a curated boutique. The VNYL effect.

I'm just glad I got all my led Zeppelin and Neil Young out of the way when I was in college!

And steely dan, jeez.

I literally saw every single Linda Ronstadt LP from the 70's in great condition for $3 each last weekend in the thrifts, so yes cosign that

I also think the vinyl market became inflated during the pandemic and is "correcting" now to a degree

and omar otm, I stocked up (and upgraded) like crazy in the mid-00s, good times

Yeah I think I’m done with second hand record stores bc I can no longer relate to going prices. I saw a Donna Summer album priced at $40 in a dirtbag record store in my neighborhood the other day. That to me says game’s up.

come to Eugene OR where those are $5!

maybe the overpricing is an urban/regional thing?

I would, but that just confirms to me the fact that buying on Discogs or eBay is much preferable to scrounging around in a hole in the wall shop getting my fingers filthy and they’re not even serving negronis.

I recently bought very nice plus copies of the first three Roxy Music records for $20 a piece, and I might have bought those in 1985 if I'd been more enamored Siren, which the Rolling Stone Record Guide told me was the one to have. Inflation calculator says $20 in today's money is $6.99 in 1985 money, which is exactly what I'd have expected for a nice used LP of something that was still hip at the time.

i only have 3500 records on discogs but almost 2000 of them are 5 to 10 bucks. i dunno. i'm sure every second-hand person has witnessed pandemic weirdness. and are people taking advantage of younger buyers with money who have been told what to buy and who then scoop up as many copies of rumours as they can? yeah. am i selling tapestry (super-clean copies) for $10? yes, i am. happens in any business. does my completely normal burrito around the corner at the salvadoran place HAVE to be $15? probably not. but there you go.

i am proud of my online stock looking like the inside of my brain though. the good, the bad, and the ugly. i sell stuff every day. my goal is to have my online go above my instore sales. then i close my shop and and sell online and listen to death metal all day and have a swanky spot on main street to hang out in.

https://www.discogs.com/seller/johndoejunior/profile

"maybe the overpricing is an urban/regional thing?"

i would think that you would have to sell every normal record for $10 to have a store in LA. but then i figure anyone with a store in LA has tons of money already.

my least favorite thing. people selling merch for their store that hasn't opened yet. t-shirts on etsy before you even open the door. or maybe its just really smart! more people like t-shirts than records.

spent about an hour in there digging about and trying not to cause an avalanche of some sort. came out with some 70s battiato for cheap iirc, a good day!

― blazin' squab (NickB), Sunday, October 15, 2023 10:29 AM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I, uh, would be backing slowly out of there

That reminds me of an awful local comic shop that as it was going out of business had trash comics in bins, unsorted, sticky with gum and soda

This thread is really going!!! Let me scroll up and get caught up

my pet peeve is dollar bins filled with literal garbage. unplayable records. like someone just dumped a box full of crud into a shelf. its rude. and it shows you have no respect for records. my dollar records are clean! the covers might be so-so but every record is playable. and i don't have crap thrift store stuff. its a different level of crap.

also, when new and used isn't separated. even though i do this too! in my defense i never have that much new stuff. but a new arrivals that is 80% new is an 80% waste of time to me.

also, yeah, things not priced. its lazy. i don't care how many records you have. if you can't price them don't put them out. or have a pricing system. a store opened up near me that is selling used stuff for 8 bucks each and then 2 for whatever and 3 for whatever. i think it goes to 8 for $48. most of it was crud. but i found some cool stuff and it ended up being a good deal. i did not look at their many many boxes of 45s because i was told if i found something they would....look it up. no thanks. you look it up. and price them. and then i'll look at your 45s.

Oh yeah dollar bin garbage is a big pet peeve as well. Amoeba actually has a pretty solid dollar bin though I guess it's now mostly maybe a $2 bin. I wouldn't say you'll find actual treasure in there but some pretty decent additions to the collection can be had.

and ned will vouch for their cheap CDs.

The most important MUST for any record store is a decent CD section - new and used. If you don’t have that, there’s no reason for me to be in your store.

my pet peeve in one place i go to is that they're *always* listening to radio when i go in there. like an 80s classic pop station or sports or something. wtf? why are you even running a record store?

Someone upthread mentioned Amoeba as an ideal and off the top of my head, yes - that’s the tops. (The one in Hollywood that moved a few years ago. My mind was blown.)

i also get a little bummed out when a genre section is mostly reissues. but i get it. metal and punk collections don't come thru the door that often.

that's the big difference now for me as opposed to yesteryear. collectors don't bring me cool stuff to trade. some do. but very few. this used to be common. collectors trying to stun me with their cool trades! but not now. now because of the money thing people are just holding on to EVERYTHING until they are 100 years old and then they will slowly list everything on future-discogs and make a fortune. which won't happen. they will die and their partner will give their records to charity.

Having gone through both the '90s Trading Card and Comic Book booms/busts as a child, and now as adult seeing many similarities between them and the vinyl mess we're in now...I've forgotten where I was going with this.

What were we talking about?

Despite my slight disappointment with amoeba's current vinyl selection in a lot of their genres compared to their previous location, their used CD section has always been amazing.

I forgot to mention that Whitstable record store yesterday had CD singles of pretty much every Madonna single. Maybe 60 CDs all lined up in a bin. It was impressive.

i did not look at their many many boxes of 45s because i was told if i found something they would....look it up. no thanks. you look it up. and price them. and then i'll look at your 45s.

just dust every now and then, please. don’t put gunky stuff out on the floor.

Actually, we achieved my idea of a perfect physical record store in my town this year when a great shop moved locations. It's now across the street from the other great shop, with complimentary balances of new/used, organization/digging. Synergy yay!

This month I picked up VG+ copies of OG stereo Pet Sounds, Roxy Music - Siren, and Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair for $10 each. Seemed like a score in these times.

One thing that makes me sad flipping through stacks is when I'm in a used bin and I see a contemporary indie record and I know the gig where it was purchased. That tour five years ago that came to that club. I'm sorry the recorded work didn't live up to the expectations set by the performance.

Has to have a bathroom.

Mostly used stock, except for some well-curated reissues. The stereo is playing some oddball shit that just came in from a an acquired collection, and the staff (basically, Dick and Barry from High Fidelity) are debating its merits.
There is a dollar bin (or 3 for $10, etc) where you don't have to sit on the floor, at the feet of the non-cheapskate customers, to flip through it. The store is mostly well organized, but there are random piles of unsorted stuff which are hiding some forgotten gems. The grizzled owner is condescending about anything released after Brothers In Arms. Once in a while, a washed out musician from the 80's stops by to see if the store has any of his old albums, but mostly just to find a receptive audience for his old war stories.

The ideal IMO, was Aquarius. I understand that part of that was the time and place. They never got too heavy into vinyl, for example. For me, in 2023, record stores need to have a CD section. But that's just me.

The thing is if you look up a common record on ebay you can probably find a completed sale for $15 plus 7 shipping or something. That's someone that doesn't know better or doesn't have time to source locally or doesn't have any local options to start with. And then record stores will see that and be like, oh well it's actually a $25 record.

I can't deal with nightmares like the Hog or the Thing (I mean the names are already monstrous). If I find a new store I check the wall and new arrivals. I almost never get any wall stuff, especially these days, but you can read the temperature of a store in no time with the wall stuff. I'm more likely to find something I actually need (see, I'm sick) in the N/As then wasting time in the general stacks. As of recently I really am interested in cool stores that still have CD sections- because they're probably curated and probably cheap. Even if they're not cheap-cheap they're still cheaper than any decent records.

Last cool CD for cheap I got was a 90s Japanese Harmonia CD for $2.50. That's literally the sales tax on a normal reissue LP.

That just reminded me - there is a great little shop I discovered passing through downtown St. Johnsbury VT a couple months back that had a great vibe for both first timers and people up for a little digging. And well priced!

Just before Covid, I spent a weekend in Hamburg and it was record-shop dreamy. From shabby boxes in Sankt Pauli open-air market to big operations on several floors. Special mention to Groove City, which had literally everything on my album shopping list (not that I could afford to buy it all).

I went a ridiculous amount over my carry on baggage coming back to australia from California due to my numerous Amoeba trips. This was 10 years ago, but yeah, compared to anything you can find in Aus, the used CD’s they had (for the prices they had) were phenomenal.

What a record store shouldn’t be? The dude down the road that sells all his used records for $50 aud, only accepts cash, and is weirdly aggressive + seems to have only a borderline appreciation of music in general. I like it when his mums working the store though, she’s a nice lady.

Haven't read the entire thread yet, but would like to add College Park, MD's CDepot to the list of chaotics.

https://dbknews.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/05/2014-04-f75c594bd9d98e62556d8734ac41aca2.jpg

https://dbknews.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/05/2014-04-f5df73328c5d7804c20638936975f49d-1.jpg

I only blundered into it a couple of months ago and don't know if I'd call it "ideal". Of 5 records I bought, two had major skips and it was too far away for me to go back the next day and bother the guy about. But while in the store, the thrill of the hunt was huge.

Oh wow haven’t been to CDepot in ages.

I had been there a couple of times in the 1990s when I had friends who lived in College Park. Back then, iirc, it was primarily a used CD store with a better-than-average selection. I was just passing through the area and was surprised to see it was still there, so I dropped in.

Has to have a bathroom.

i feel u

https://k1047.com/2023/06/27/the-laxative-effect-is-going-viral-online-and-i-know-its-real/

For a local record store that I can visit regularly, my #1 criterion is whether the stock turns over and I can expect to consistently find different stuff there. There is a big store in my town where the bins have been frozen in amber for years & years bc the owner just lives for record store day and major label event releases like "collectible/exclusive" Taylor Swift variants, and the rest of the store stock is clearly set dressing intended to keep the space occupied between record store days. It has been many years since I found anything worth buying. If thats how the owner wants to make his living and he can pull it off god bless him, although I would love it if he had a conversion moment where he gets interested in actually operating a record store. but failing that, and if the RSD/"exclusive color variant" gravy train runs out at some point, I have a long list of titles that I wont feel guilty about scooping up at the going-out-of-business sale.

Another store nearby, the owner makes a point to price stuff slightly lower than they'd get online. And guess what? It's always very busy and I go there all the time to empty my wallet!

the busy store is also one of the three, count 'em, three record stores in my town that have beer on tap.

xxp yeah, record and book shopping just kind of gets me going!

Can you imagine a record store dispensary?? zomg

Amoeba in Berkeley converted the jazz/experimental/DVD section and turned it into a dispensary called...
Hi-Fidelity

But for practical reasons it's walled off from the record store proper. Also, you can't flip through weed encased in jewel cases clack-clack-clack like you can with remaindered CDs.

Unfortunately, the ideal physical record store for me in our forever plague times is outdoor yard sale.

Monorail Music in Glasgow is attached to a vegan bar and cafe, has a wide-ranging selection of new and used vinyl and CDs (great prices on the secondhand CDs too, that's where the bargains are), and is co-owned by an indie pop star, what more could you want.

theres one in Green Bay that's got a dispensary and a tattoo parlor on either side, that seems pretty appropriate to me

most of the above posts are otm but I think they all get at one thing - the best record stores are the ones actively trying to sell things, rather than just exist as a dumping ground. my local shop has to reject incoming collections all the time. or someone will bring in 100+ records and they'll just buy a few. it's a major turnoff having to thumb through unplayable records, or stuff on the Goodwill axis of religion/big band/Mitch. even worse when the racks are so stuffed that you have to take a handful out just to see what's in there.

but yea a lot of this is down to pricing. it's real obnoxious when these small town stores will get something cool and semi-valuable in their hands and immediately put it at the top-end Discogs price. especially when it's something 98% of their customers have never heard of. like sure I get the logic, why sell something for $30 in store when you can get $50 for it online, but the reality is these are often records that sell online like twice a year (obviously you can look this up on Discogs) so you're often just left waiting forever for someone to actually be interested. which is more time it sits in the rack or on the wall, which means I see it every time I go, which gives me the impression that you just don't get new stuff in that often

when the racks are so stuffed that you have to take a handful out just to see what's in there.

Just came her to post this. My pet peeve, along with artists with an extensive discography and a divider card, and the store has one hammered copy of their least popular album.

cheech & chong are taking over the new dispensary a block away from me. hoping for some corporate synergy. at the very least i hope they do an in-store appearance and i can have them sign a gigantic novelty rolling paper from their record.

Has to have a bathroom.

― henry s, Sunday, October 15, 2023 8:11 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Yes! Harder to find these in all kinds of retail establishments

personally ive never been a fan of introducing food or drink into the record store experience. growing up flipping through musty bins at garage sales and flea markets, very early on i developed a deep-rooted neurosis about always keeping my hands away from my mouth when shopping for records, hard to break now.

i wish people would stop bringing food/drink in my store. or read the sign on the door that says not to. or read the sign on the big chair by the door that says "please put drink here". or stop asking me if i take credit cards in front of the huge sign that says that we take credit cards. so many people ask me if we are "cash-only" and i always want to ask them how many stores they've been in that are cash-only. because i can't think of any that i go to. i know of some restaurants maybe....?

i've kinda given up on dogs. people just bring their dogs with them everywhere around here? or they are bored and just walking their dog. baby and dog walking boredom is common. but i honestly can't imagine bringing a dog into a store! its seems crazy to me. but its life here. or in vermont. some people ask. and then i feel like a jerk if i say no don't bring your dog in. some people are afraid of dogs.

i don't let people use our bathroom anymore - other than friends - because my dad uses it a lot and he is very old and i don't want maria to have to let people into the back of our store when i'm not there. i also just stopped doing it because you end up profiling and i don't want to profile. not in a race way. in a hobo/junkie way. i tell people to go to town hall behind our building. they are there to serve. it would be different if it was out in the general area of the store. but nothing in this old town is like that. or handicap-accessible for that matter. because none of the buildings have been redone. my old space didn't even have a fire exit! just a front door. the co-op market is moving right across from my store which is awesome because bathrooms for all!

don't feel bad for the junkies. they pee right behind my back door next to the dumpster. lovely in the summer.

For stores still around in 2023 it’s Acme Records in Milwaukee for me. Curated selection, a deep jazz selection with way more turnover than makes sense for a midsized city, reggae and world sections that have more used stock than any store I’ve seen in years, reissues that make sense…it helps that it feels like the guy who runs it listens to the exact same stuff I do 90% of the time, but also his pricing is on the lower end of the Discogs spectrum which is a rarity on its own these days.

and is co-owned by an indie pop star, what more could you want.

― Ward Fowler, Monday, October 16, 2023 10:28 AM (thirty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Siobhan de Maré?

i'm not ashamed to use Discogs for pricing as much as i do. still way cheaper than Ebay prices for a lot of things. and i tend to go low. i mean, it makes sense. i used Ebay years ago to help price. many moons ago people would put Four Seasons and Fabian records on their walls for $$$ because people really had no idea what they should be priced! books were often wildly inaccurate. which could be good for a consumer. unless they liked Fabian and the Four Seasons. which is who those books were geared toward. i don't know what's going to happen to all those doo wop 45s that old time dealers convinced collectors were worth hundreds in the 80s and 90s. they aren't worth that now. one of the few genres to go down probably. along with classical/soundtracks/comedy/etc. i love seeing old soundtrack prices of $40 and $50 as i price them $1. those were the days. a record cost whatever you said it cost back then. now there is SOME kind of history to see publicly. on discogs or popsike, etc.

xxp I've been there! great place, I always make sure to visit when I'm passing through. There are a few good shops near Brady street, including one which had a bunch of Amon Duul II and Klaus Schulze stuff...quite bizarre for a small shop

Half Price Books is my favorite nowadays, since I don't really shop used vinyl anymore and they still have large used CD sections and good stock turnover (also they have books!).

i tend to go low

Discogs low sounds nice. It blows my mind that it has become the norm on my local record classifieds Facebook group to price your ads at Discogs median. We're in a bit of record store desert out here but god dang... go sell on Discogs or open a shop if you want that kind of money for your random stuff, bud.

Free bathrooms in vicinity is fair, Scott!

historically I want to use record store bathrooms even less than the employees want to let me

I do find good stuff at half price sometimes, but then there are those Atomic Rooster and Thin Lizzy imports priced at $30+ that have been sitting around forever

for awhile there were just too many amateur hour record stores where you'd go in and realize it was clear that they were pricing based on a combination of name recognition and the overall trend of vinyl value, condition notwithstanding. when VNYL thought they could trick people into their vinyl curation con, it was sort of the most obvious and shameless version of what a lot of record stores started to do over the last decade. get as many cheap records as you can and try to part some fools from their money. it's good that there are people out there to educate others on vinyl value and what makes the whole hobby worth it, though even with new vinyl it really does feel a bit like the early '90s baseball card industry sometimes, lots of kitschy lower quality pressings marked way the fuck up.

i like when people bring new or new-ish vinyl in to sell/trade because it is almost always close to unplayed/mint/nearmint and all that heavy duty stuff holds its value well or goes way up after a year or two. its like owning stock basically.
thats another weird phenomena now that is new. people just buying to collect but never listening to the records or buying a turntable. a lot of young people just want to put them up on their walls. but this is good for stores when they finally get rid of it all. and most of them will end up getting rid of it all. everything will still be in great or like new shape.

you should start selling vinyl futures

i swear some vinyl is only produced to feed directly into the YouTube unboxing video industrial complex

It sounds like you have a good workaround for bathrooms, Scott! That’s totally fair.

Have you ever considered a sign that says “no bathrooms but we know where you can go”? Or would that be counterproductive?

(And this is an Xpost but I know drugs/vagrancy are the reasons bathrooms are often not made available to anyone other than staff. We need a societal resolution and a whole lot of social measures/support to alleviate those issues - plus also, shit, no benches anywhere?!? - but that’s for a different thread or a better, alternate universe.)

Location is key, I think. The (awesome) record store in my hometown has a couple of immaculate bathrooms, and you don't even have to ask for the key to use them. But the store is located in a strip mall, and probably gets more bathroom users than abusers. Mind you, I worked in a coffee shop a couple blocks from there in high school and found a gun in the bathroom.

when i think of that poor little bathroom i had in my old space and the dozens of live shows i had that were byob...oof...i have cleaned my fill of bathrooms. not to mention that i was a hospital custodian before i opened a record store...

i kinda feel like...do you sell food? you need a bathroom. don't sell food? its your call. i don't even actually know what the laws are in massachusetts about rest rooms in stores. i just tell people that its inaccessible. which it kinda is.

isn't amoeba famous for not having bathrooms? they must get 100 people a day asking to use one.

There’s an (in)famous chain called of second hand record shops in Notting Hill that I worked in during the 90s. One day Billy Gibbons, god knows why, came into the store and after browsing a while asked if he could use the staff toilet. The frankly rank condition of the loo didn’t seem to phase Billy a bit, no doubt because he’d seen much much worse on the road. Shortly after, graffiti appeared on the toilet wall noting that ‘Billy Gibbons pissed here’.

I never expect a bathroom in a record store, but when I encounter one, especially in a place with a good selection...*chef's kiss*...(er, maybe not the best expression/gesture to use in a public bathroom discussion?)

The (mighty mighty) House of Guitars in Rochester is another example of the "chaotic good" record store ideal. I took this photo in July, it has looked like this ever since my teenage years. The musical instrument rooms upstairs are more or less the same, just massive volumes of stuff — some no doubt quite valuable — piled all over hither and yon.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, October 15, 2023 2:54 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

A family member took me here a few years ago when I visited Rochester knowing that I "play" guitar (I'm not v good but enjoy it as a hobby). I spent all our allotted time perusing the guitars not knowing this chaotically magnificent record store was in back (below?), and then only had a few min to spend in there. Have to get back!

long live Armand Schaubroeck

that's armand shaubroeck's store? the ratfucker? i thought that was his place.

ratfuck x-post

yep!

I guess I’ve never really expect small shops of any kind to have public bathrooms

Me neither. Just talking ideals. A good record store makes me need to poop. It's just how I was made.

I miss the golden age of Waterloo Records in Austin when it had Waterloo Ice House next door, where you could take a break from flipping through the racks for some french fries, a Coke, and a spacious bathroom.

Oh!!! Waterloo!!!

Yes, that was another wonderful, impressive, chill music shopping situation.

two doors from me on the right: salvadoran burritos. directly across the street: a great bakery, a thai restaurant, and an indian restaurant. to the left of me a greek place and then a sandwich place and in the summer a tiny ice cream place. and in the future across the street from me: a huge co-op supermarket. lots of bathrooms! i never thought of it that way before. but its true. lots of bathrooms.

i honestly can't imagine bringing a dog into a store! its seems crazy to me.

dogs are very welcome at most record shops here. I can't imagine not taking my dog, who incidentally seems to particularly enjoy being in a record shop (as long as they aren't playing Techno. she loathes Techno). it seems there is a very different attitude to dogs going in places here in the UK.

as well as Monorail which is attached to a bar, there is a pub in Glasgow that sells records though i pass it all the time and don't see many people buying the records. they always seem to be playing Ocean Colour Scene when i'm passing so i have never gone in.

https://stripjointglasgow.co.uk/strip-joint-tank-beer-pizza-finnieston-strip-glasgow/

when the racks are so stuffed that you have to take a handful out just to see what's in there.

Just came her to post this. My pet peeve, along with artists with an extensive discography and a divider card, and the store has one hammered copy of their least popular album.

100% agree!

and is co-owned by an indie pop star, what more could you want.

― Ward Fowler, Monday, October 16, 2023 10:28 AM (thirty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Siobhan de Maré?

that's quite a random guess! initials SP.

Waterloo is indeed still surprisingly good, although being an obnoxious transplant, I've been to the overpriced 24 Diner many more times than any location of Waterloo Ice House despite there being ones that are much closer to where I live.

Waterloo Ice House was better as a record-store adjacent restaurant because they didn't seat you, it was order-at-the-counter. Better for taking a quick 15 from flipping the racks. As a dining destination it... is great if you just want fries and a Coke.

Alternate Austin record shopping experience that is sadly no longer available: End of an Ear and Long John Silver's

my trips to LA stopped before Amoeba opened there but i did enjoy my trips to Aron's before that closed. saw Mojave 3 do an in-store there.

thats another weird phenomena now that is new. people just buying to collect but never listening to the records or buying a turntable. a lot of young people just want to put them up on their walls.

That’s not so weird? For playing the actual music you might as well just do Spotify, that’s much quicker and easier. I’m not a vinyl collector, but I always assumed most people buy a new LP nowadays for the collectible artifact: the smell, the big artwork, etc.

"dogs are very welcome at most record shops here."

yeah i don't know what my problem is. maybe because i lived and worked in a city for so long where people didn't do this. i just know that some people are very nervous around dogs and i wouldn't want any shoppers to be uncomfortable. but here people use dogs to kill so maybe its just a different vibe in europe or the u.k.

and every other dog is a pitbull. maybe that's everywhere though.

sometimes someone will just let a dog loose in the store! i dunno. you can always just tie them up outside. i usually don't say anything other than: "that dog isn't gonna piss on all the records is it?"

"I always assumed most people buy a new LP nowadays for the collectible artifact: the smell, the big artwork, etc."

yeah i sell records for a living and this never even occurred to me until about 4 or 5 years ago. that they were like unopened pokemon cards to some people. the new records i mean.

paying retail prices for "the smell" of new vinyl is pretty inarguably weird imo

another thing that has changed: people - for the most part - do not want old magazines, papers, old rolling stones. they got really hard to sell. and it makes sense because entire new generations grew up never buying a magazine. so why would they pay 5 or 10 bucks for one? there is definitely a glut of old rock mags out there.

I've been kind of surprised by that, the fact that nobody wants old magazines. But it's true, there's a bookstore near me that has a huge collection of vintage magazines, many of them music mags and they're priced so cheap and they never seem to go anywhere. I have some old magazines I tried to give away and nobody would take them.

man I don't want 'em all but I would love some Creem back issues

i just look for old jazz magazines. 50s/60s/70s. still want a complete set of nat hentoff's short-lived magazine.

when the racks are so stuffed that you have to take a handful out just to see what's in there.

There's one store i used to stop by in central PA where they had a huge stock of well-organized, well-curated records. But it was all stored spine-out, packed super-tightly into those ikea kallax shelves.
I stopped going there, it was too frustrating... it would have taken me years to read all those spines.

i had huge stacks of old MM and NME from the 70s and 80s and they were so punk rock and awesome and...i gave them to my brother to sell. he gets NYC sharpies at his store. i couldn't sell any of them. i feel like if i had framed some of those amazing post-punk ads and live bill ads and sold them i would have done better.

someone mentioned eugene oregon and i do love house of records and they used to have impossible library shelves of records and i used to think this was good because nobody would ever go through them all.

good for me. not the customers. i found some cool stuff! in general though its hard. to look at records that way.

House Of Records is still there, and still great. and yes, most are still on shelves spine-out, but not everything now.

and they STILL pull magical deadstock things from the 70s-90s out of the basement periodically

I have lived here 23 years but never actually been in the fabled basement

"dogs are very welcome at most record shops here."

yeah i don't know what my problem is. maybe because i lived and worked in a city for so long where people didn't do this. i just know that some people are very nervous around dogs and i wouldn't want any shoppers to be uncomfortable. but here people use dogs to kill so maybe its just a different vibe in europe or the u.k.

and every other dog is a pitbull. maybe that's everywhere though.

sometimes someone will just let a dog loose in the store! i dunno. you can always just tie them up outside. i usually don't say anything other than: "that dog isn't gonna piss on all the records is it?"

very good points. i'd never let my dog loose. she is small and unthreatening but i'd still always keep her close at hand in case anyone was nervous of dogs and wouldn't take her in if it was busy. letting a dog loose is crazy. lots of pitbulls here too but as far as i know not too many people using dogs to kill!! my goodness!

one of my favourite record shops is Wah Wah in barcelona but it suffers from over stuffed racks and boxes under the racks - my patience for looking through lots of boxes placed under the racks has long vapourised, but that could also be age related.

Me too. My aching back! Cheapo's in Cambridge, Mass. is like that. One time I found something great for a buck in one of those boxes, so every time I visit, down I go...

The dollar bin at Cheapo's is down on floor level, and it's displayed spine side out, but it's also basically the backbone of my record collection.
The owner is super picky about condition, and I've found copies of Brotherhood / Low Life, Aladdin Sane, Black Byrd, Tapestry, and many, many more in pretty reasonable condition.

Correction: I just realized i was talking about Planet Records in Cambridge. Cheapo's is, ironically, overpriced, ever since it changed ownership.

It is, but at least the new owners don't make snide remarks about your purchases. (Full disclosure: some of my purchases deserve to be snided at! But most don't.)

I sold some stuff back there once, and they were making fun of it while I was just out of earshot. They're also pretty dismissive of the garden variety record stores weirdos who wander in off the street. I dunno, I feel like that place is still a pretty good bet for some old-school condescension.

i only have good things to say about that new owner of cheapos because when i was moving one storefront over four years ago he bought all my classical records for $$$. i had probably 50 boxes or more. he would sell in bulk to south korea. shipping containers filled with classical. and he bought a ton of other stuff from me too that day. but i haven't been there since it changed hands. they were a good spot for sealed henry cow records. i wonder what happened to all those bear family boxed sets. anyway, i was really happy to get rid of all those boxes before i moved over. i gave all my opera away before that. hundreds of boxed sets.

my pal sunburned rob of SHoTM worked at cheapos for years before moving over here to my neck of the woods.

as well as Monorail which is attached to a bar, there is a pub in Glasgow that sells records though i pass it all the time and don't see many people buying the records. they always seem to be playing Ocean Colour Scene when i'm passing so i have never gone in.

Thanks, didn't know about this one. Looks more for the young ppl and their Blink 182 vinyl needs.

Glasgow of course once home to Volcanic Tongue, which was mainly an interweb business but did have a (tiny) retail space in the city. Never seen a better assemblage of weird shit in a UK record shop (only Rough Trade Covent Garden in the early 90s ran it close), and it had an excellent secondhand CD section.

that's quite a random guess! initials SP.

― stirmonster, Monday, October 16, 2023 2:45 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I was trying to make a joke about the band Mono. :)

i actually realised just as i hit send. :)

Volcanic Tongue still sadly missed x post.

I miss record stores that smell like incense.

What, just like, stacked to the rafters with Like a Prayer first pressings?

Hahaha, no. Back in the 70s, at least in Denver, there were several independent record stores that smelled like incense, probably to cover up the weed smell. One I remember in particular also carried underground comix and "smoking accessories."

the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis still has that going, can totally identify records bought there by the incense smell that adheres

there is a 70s country rock record that was supposed to smell like incense on purpose a la madonna and if you get a copy it STILL smells like it. which seems pretty incredible. strong stuff.

i use scented candles. more record stores should smell like christmas trees. its a subliminal sales device.

Hahaha, no. Back in the 70s, at least in Denver, there were several independent record stores that smelled like incense, probably to cover up the weed smell. One I remember in particular also carried underground comix and "smoking accessories."

Ernie November in Rapid City, SD is one of these places. Whenever I was in town (which was like, a dozen times over the past few years including a 2.5 month stint earlier this year) I went in there all the time. Their record selection was kind of hit or miss thought I did walk out with a handful of used AC/DC records for $12 a pop.