Amoeba LA to close?

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by zakyfarms, Sep 12, 2016.

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  1. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    Actually, Amoeba buys a lot of new vinyl... And when I sell used vinyl, they pay more than other stores I've tried to sell to. The thing with Amoeba is, they have so much foot traffic... they likely have a bunch in the back or upstairs or wherever that they put out in batches because the stuff in the new arrivals sells so quickly yet there isn't much room for it under the artists' name. In San Fran store, there is tons of used vinyl...
     
  2. DigMyGroove

    DigMyGroove Forum Resident

    I highly recommend my local shop in Sherman Oaks, Freakbeat Records.
    Freakbeat Records »
    This shop is only a 15 minute drive from Ameoba via the 101 North. They are constantly buying collections from former record industry folk and there are always great records to be found, often promo copies, sometimes even sealed, like the first press Bob Dylan - Planet Waves I bought last year for just $20. Most of the used stock falls into the $6 to $15 range, LPs are priced to move at Freakbeat. They also have a very large selection of used CDs, plus Music DVDs as well as plenty of new release vinyl. This is the real deal, a record store like they all used to be.
     
  3. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I'll have to remember this next time i'm out there.
     
    DigMyGroove likes this.
  4. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Freakbeat and Soundsations are my two favorite places for used vinyl in LA. They're the only two stores in town I'll sell/trade my stuff to, they price fairly on both sides of the transaction. Freakbeat seems to have three price points, except for rarer things: $4.99, $8.99, and $15.99. I don't feel like I've ever overpaid there.
     
  5. sunspot

    sunspot Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Great store and Bob & Tom are nice fellows. I visit multiple times on my trips to LA.
     
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  6. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Bob loves to talk about labels, pressings and the like, he's just the kind of guy you want running a record store.
     
    Shawn and sunspot like this.
  7. And he is extremely knowledgeable in addition to being friendly. A great store.
     
  8. DigMyGroove

    DigMyGroove Forum Resident

    CD Trader in Encino just west of the Reseda Blvd. exit off the 101 is also well worth checking out. They have a huge selection of vinyl and CDs, and I've always found great stuff there at reasonable prices. The staff lack the warmth of Freakbeat, but are fine to deal with.
     
    Sammy Banderas likes this.
  9. thesisinbold

    thesisinbold Forum Resident

    Location:
    Camarillo, Ca, USA

    You can also check out "Normans Rare Guitars" directly across the street.
     
  10. TeacFan

    TeacFan Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Arcadia, Ca.
    More info as the wheels of progress gain traction.
     
    jhm likes this.
  11. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    As a local resident I'm grateful for these developments. I have little doubt that a leaner, meaner Hollywood Amoeba will result and will benefit from this part of LA becoming less sketchy.
     
  12. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    No offense, but I was just there over the weekend. I will be shocked if a "leaner, meaner" Amoeba even returns when push comes to shove. What will result is a bloater, denser Hollywood with no room for movement. It was bad enough before. They are not widening the streets; they can't. And don't kid yourself, Hollywood will always be sketchy off the main corridors.
     
  13. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    When the hell is that? At 3:00 in the morning?!? :unhunh:
     
    Rodz42, Stuevts, drivingfrog and 3 others like this.
  14. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    No offense taken, it's a fair debate. It's up for grabs whether the city can cope with the redevelopment happening in Hollywood, downtown LA, mid-Wilshire, etc. and whether mass transit can ever be effectively retrofitted into such vast place. I'm more optimistic than you though on Hollywood and other neighborhoods becoming better places to visit and to live.
     
    Grant likes this.
  15. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    I hope so, but the timetable will be a long one.
     
  16. That area was a lot more sketchy before Amoeba moved in. I'd go so far as to say the store helped the area become safer.
     
  17. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    the arcsight theatre? The cool gastropub on the corner of Ivar?.. it's not that sketch. It almost sounds like people on here want Amoeba to close. These people are either too broke to buy records, or idiots. If you're too broke or don't live in California, let us who do buy records enjoy and not root for its demise.

    And sorry, but I live near Amoeba on Haight Street in SF. It's a gazillion times more sketch than the one on Sunset. Parked a block away from the Haight Street location and was followed to the store by a street dude with no shoes "Sticky green bud? Sticky green bud?" Hopefully you sell that and get your ass some shoes.
     
  18. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Amoeba's prices have crept up to the point where it's no longer an essential stop on the LA used vinyl circuit, but I certainly don't want it to close and still go there a couple times a month. A new store location nearby necessitated by neighborhood redevelopment seems like a good result to me.
     
    Grant likes this.
  19. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I agree it's over priced junky vinyl and the poster reproductions mixed with a few original Fillmores, kinda sits with me wrong. It's all frabricated coolness there.


    They need to get the overhead in line with today's market reality, and try the scaled down concept in another location if at all.
     
    Marc Perman and mikeyt like this.
  20. mikeyt

    mikeyt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    When was the last time you spent some time around that Hollywood area? The recent construction of condos and businesses pushed a lot of homeless into the neighborhood and the crime has gone up. A buddy of mine on El Centro couldn't leave his house one night b/c there was a guy running around screaming with an axe.
     
    audiomixer likes this.
  21. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I haven't been there in a few years, but i'll have to plan to get there before they close up and move. Such an iconic building, too.
     
  22. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    was there about 10 days ago. They have about 1/8 the homeless of San Francisco's Amoeba location.
     
  23. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    the thing with Amoeba is, they always seem to operate in locations where parking sucks. They really shouldn't move, though. Amoeba's prices have crept up a bit largely due to distributors' prices creeping up. Huge demand to produce vinyl with too few pressing plants. Therefore, the price of vinyl has crept up. Why are new and re-issued records $25-$40? That's why. It's simple business math versus Amoeba trying to stick it to the consumer.

    And why has used vinyl crept up in price? Because re-issued vinyl sometimes uses digital sources to re-issue vinyl. Often even, a CD source (4 Men With Beards and Plain Recordings are guilty of this). Therefore, when people see something pressed to vinyl from a CD source or a digital source, they often seek out the original pressing or a previous pressing from Analogue. Driving the demand way up. I *get* that in the past when vinyl hadn't made its resurgence that you could go grab a used vinyl copy of "Strangeways Here We Come" for $8, but that album really shouldn't be just $8.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2017
  24. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Amoeba Hollywood's lease is up in less than two years I believe, and the one story building is slated to replaced. For LPs, the store has come to feel to me like a supersized Urban Outfitters of overpriced new vinyl, with higher prices than anywhere else in town or on Amazon. I wonder how business is for them these days.
     
    Matt Starr likes this.
  25. Matt Starr

    Matt Starr Forum Troglodyte

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I agree. And even though it's probably not practical for them, I wish they would separate the used and new vinyl. I despise sifting through a bin of mostly crap re-issues, to try and find the two used pieces that are in there, or worse yet, never seeing them at all which I'm sure happens to me all the time.

    The only redeeming thing is that they still have far too many people doing their used pricing and many of them have no clue. This cuts both ways. I see delusional asking prices for some pieces and then totally under market pricing for others. I have found some amazing records for very little money over the last few years, most of them priced by someone who clearly did not know what they were doing.

    Overall, I think I'll be sad to see them go. There's such a huge volume of things going in and out of there that I STILL find nice records almost every time I go.

    On the other hand, don't get me started on their returns desk and being lectured that I shouldn't buy vinyl because "all vinyl is warped" and "all vinyl is noisy." :tsk:
     
    SixOClockBoos, mikeyt, Shawn and 2 others like this.
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