CD and Record Stores in Columbus, OH*

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by alamo54us, Nov 8, 2014.

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  1. alamo54us

    alamo54us Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I have to make a quick business trip to Columbus next week. Any suggestions for used CD stores or great used book stores? I have a rental car. Thanks.
     
  2. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff

    I just did some record shopping in Columbus two months ago. They have several "Half-Price Books" locations, where I scored about 8 CDs at very good prices, and I purchased vinyl at two very nice shops (which also carried CDs):

    http://www.thunderpussy.com/
    http://elizabethsrecords.webs.com/ (<-----Mostly LPs, IIRC, but a well-stocked shop.)
     
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  3. misterclean

    misterclean Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, Ohio
    I'm planning a trip to Columbus in the very near future, and was hoping for some recommendations. I haven't been down there in over 10 years, so I'm a bit out of the loop. I'm not looking for rarities, just clean, original (vinyl) albums from 70s and 80s classic rock artists that aren't overpriced. Obviously, I'll be sure to hit Used Kids, but any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks in advance.
     
  4. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I would highly recommend hitting "Used Kids", but please be aware that they have moved, as they are leveling that entire block where they used to be, for new construction and it was a big move, as they are no longer on High Street or even that close to the Ohio State University main campus. The new store is wonderfully set up, in my opinion, all on the ground level and with parking, plus they have a slew of stereo equipment that is worth looking at, if for no other reason than nostalgia! Here is their new website with info about their new address ...

    Used Kids Records

    Another store that I would recommend to check out, just for fun, is called "Records Per Minute" and is on High Street, but up north of the OSU main campus. This store is not real big and they deal more in new LP pressings (not real cheap), including MFSL type releases, along with plenty of reasonably priced used LP's. The guy that owns this store sells REGA turntables and fair warning, he has a bit of a "know-it-all" type of attitude. My cousin has spent a small fortune in this store and when he attempted to return a defective LP pressing of an expensive reissue, my cousin was upset, as the owner gave him a lot of crap about wanting to return it, which pissed me off as well. Best to look and buy without trying to talk to that guy and your visit should go fairly smoothly.

    One more store that I used to love to visit, when I visit Columbus, was "Magnolia Thunderpussy", but the last time I was there, it seemed to me that they have been taken over by the "dark side" (read that as: too many people with tattoos, nose rings and no smiles), which is clearly NOT my type of record store. I fear their demise will be far sooner than later!
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2017
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  5. omom

    omom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ohio, USA
    Check out Ace In The Hole. I think they are going out of business, with 20% off stock currently. They have quite a bit of vinyl.
     
  6. Northwind

    Northwind Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh
    Any reviews for Spoonful, Elizabeth's, Lost Weekend, etc.?

    Had the random idea of taking the drive from Pittsburgh to explore Columbus' vinyl scene, but was wondering if it would be worth it... or if I'd be tediously flipping through Pablo Cruise, Little River Band and Poco records.

    My interests are largely 70s British prog / hard rock / proto-metal.
     
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  7. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Lost Weekend is owned by a guy named Kyle and the last time that I was in the store (probably about 6 or so months ago), Kyle and I had a nice discussion about how he used to work in the record industry. I believe that he worked for Columbia or Epic, but he knows his sh#$ about music and his store is pretty old school. Like most stores, he will probably have some Pablo, LRB and Poco, but he does have some "interesting" titles, but I barely know anything about the three music formats that you listed, so I can't say for sure if any of the Columbus stores will satisfy your wants? I personally get a little more disenchanted each time that I make the trek to either Columbus or Pittsburgh, when it comes to vinyl shopping anymore. I'm about complete with my LP wish lists and that leaves my original hobby of collecting 45's, mostly just for my jukeboxes these days, which most stores don't even bother with anymore.
     
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  8. Amazing work you are going to do. I want to suggest you, just focus on make a CD store.
     
  9. 1940Zeffer

    1940Zeffer Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Sylvania oHIo USA
    Moles used to be upstairs on high street Ohio Student Union..might still be there...
     
  10. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Note to the folks who run "Used Kids" ...

    I was in your store last Saturday afternoon (March 25th) and while I appreciate you giving local (Pittsburgh?) bands a chance to show their talent, I need to know why they feel the need to turn the volume up, well past eleven, to levels of deafness, just to get the point across, that "louder does NOT always mean better" theory! My wife and I, who just wanted to shop your store casually and spend some money there, if not for the ear bleeding loudness that that band drove us out with, we would have easily spent a lot more money, than those "free pizza eating fans" of that band probably spent!
     
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  11. Jason Manley

    Jason Manley Senior Member

    Location:
    O-H-I-O
    I miss the old Used Kids. I used to go once or twice a month. The CD section was huge and I bought many CDs there over the years.

    I think they have basically gone all vinyl at their new location. Bummer for me, good thing for vinyl lovers. The new shop looks nice!

    Another vote for Half Priced Books locations. I keep meaning to check Goodwill too.
     
  12. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    I'm taking my wife to a doctor appointment in Columbus next Friday (April 6).
    Would like to visit a used record store while I'm there.
    The doctor's office is on...
    3773 Olentangy River Road
    Columbus OH 43214
    I need to know if there's any used vinyl stores close that have a good vinyl selection (60s-80s).
    I see Used Kids & Lost Weekend are my 2 closest choices (both within 10 min.)
    But which one. Mostly going with condition of vinyl.

    Darryl
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2018
  13. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    I'll be driving through Columbus pretty soon. It looks like a focused mercenary buyer like me (who is basically looking only for old records in unpopular sections, and dollar/cheap bins with high turnover) might be able to knock off Used Kids, RPM, Lost Weekend and maybe even also Elizabeth's in an hour or an hour and a half tops coffee break off the highway. Doable? Worthwhile?
     
  14. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    I'm leaning more towards 'Lost Weekend'



    Darryl
     
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  15. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Darryl, "Lost Weekend" is a decent store, but I truly feel that you (or anyone on this forum for that matter), would enjoy "Used Kids" far, far better! "Used Kids" is pretty well organized, with exception to their 45's selection, which I truly wish that they would straighten up, as that area is pretty hodge-podge digging. I have found that even though I have walked out of "Used Kids" without one record in my hands, I still had fun looking around. If you have a short list of titles that you are looking for, you can often get really lucky there.
     
  16. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    In 1978 or '79 I went to Columbus with a handful of cash and a stack of resumes in my post-college campaign to break into television. Zappa was in town, and I stayed the extra day (ssooooooo worth it! Only time I ever saw Frank; first time I have ever seen colors appear onstage without pharmaceuticals).

    Before I left town, I couldn't resist visiting one of the most amazing collections of record stores and head shops I had ever seen up to that point...and they were all in one solid line along the big street across from the University! Man, what a shopping day...until I came back to where I thought I had parked my car....?! Not there. In a panic I ran into a store, where the owner schooled me on what a nice revenue stream it was for the police to aggressively have offending vehicles towed in the last two minutes before Rush Hour.

    Needless to say, the end of my trip wasn't nearly as great as the previous 24 hours. That was nearly/exactly 40 years ago...and I still think fondly about the record-geeking part of that visit!
     
  17. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    I won’t have a lot of time to look. Which place has records in better condition? I can be picky. Looking for very clean vinyl. If it has a very visible mark on the vinyl (so that I see it without looking for it)...then, NO.
    I can forgive a few things. Light scuff or 2 on the vinyl is OK, dog eared & split seams on the cover are NOT.

    Darryl
     
  18. clhboa

    clhboa Forum Resident

    Don't know if you've looked into this store yet...

    Magnolia Thunderpussy Recrds
     
  19. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Well, we all are always looking for the best possible pressings, so I guess the answer to that is more in the eyes of the beholder as to what you will find worthy? Not long ago at "Used Kids", I found a near mint promo copy of the MONO "Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim" album for $5 bucks. The cover was less than perfect, but the vinyl was near mint. Every store that I have ever shopped has flawed pressings, so it's a really crap shoot. I know many stores that "clean" every record that they sell, but that more often than not, proves a problem in worthy purchases for me, as just because a record "looks" clean, does not always equal that it will "sound" clean! For me, I could really care less how perfect the cover is, just as long as it isn't ripped or reeks of mold. I have hundreds of promo albums that have radio station call letters written across the cover and that has never effected my enjoyment of the vinyl inside the cover.
     
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  20. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Great story, minus the car being towed part! I had my 1982 Oldsmobile Cutlass (then brand new), towed in Columbus when I parked in the parking lot of a closed pizza shop, around the corner from the theater where I had just watched my very first porn movie, starring Sir John Holmes (the one with the girl scouts)!

    Anyways, how did that "break into television" work out? In 1981 I started in radio as a broadcaster and all these years later I'm still "on-call" to fill in for two people on a local morning talk show.
     
  21. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Ahh yes, I remember when I was young and full of hormones...

    The TV career tanked, just in time I would say. My sole post-college video work was a weekend commercial shoot in Indianapolis (washers and dryers shot on a high school football field...which we ended up painting green ), and a short time in Boise, running control, weekend camera for news, and building commercial-break reels overnight. Ran out of money, came home to Indiana (my car died...literally ONE MILE from my parents' house!), and returned to the part-time radio gig, pizza delivery and sales floor at JC Penney.

    I realized about this time that creativity is much more highly-regarded in radio: you can just walk in a prod studio with a piece of paper, and come out a half-hour later with a giant cup of hot chocolate in Lake Michegan (Freberg reference). TV takes a production staff, storyboards, approvals, location scouting, setup and takedown, editing and approval again. In a fraction of the time I could put down something on tape (or file, now) that gives you an idea of what I'm talking about...or even the finished product: no budgeting, assembling people, and a lot less work to get permission/approval. And for a creative guy who doesn't do normal radio, it's a win-win.

    (Did I mention, I was able to deduct all the LP's I bought in Columbus? :D )
     
  22. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Thanks for the reply, which I found interesting. First, sorry that the TV career didn't work out and I can appreciate your feelings. I have a "face" for radio and thusly I have never even thought about transitioning to TV, although I realize that TV is where the $$$ is, especially if you are talented and have a face for TV.

    So, am I reading your second paragraph correctly, as I'm trying to read between the lines, that today you are either doing voiceovers or you are producing them for others? While, as I mentioned earlier, that I still have my toes in radio today, but what I would love to get into on a more frequent timeframe, is doing voiceovers. I agree that it is a wonderful thing to walk into a studio (or even down to my own small set-up) and have an approved piece of copy and cut it (I can usually cut a spot in one or two takes, as long as I've had some time to live with it and work it out in my head, before I step up to the microphone) and then wait for the paycheck to arrive in my mailbox!

    I was raised on a guy, Ernie Anderson, who was originally from Ohio and he ended up in L.A., after his friend Tim (then Tom) Conway left Ohio and said Ernie you have to get out here and work. Here is the late great Ernie Anderson at work, cutting promos for ABC (very fun to watch as it is so old school now) and I apologize if you are offended by dirty words, as a few slip out, as always, when in a production room ...

    This is what I'd love to be doing ...

     
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  23. clhboa

    clhboa Forum Resident

    Ghoulardi!
     
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  24. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Dat be the same guy!
     
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  25. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    Will make an attempt to visit 'Lost Weekend' today.

    Darryl
     
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