Best in Rochester NY

The old thread for Rochester's shops is pretty old, so here begins a new one!

My two favorite shops for used cd's and lp's are:

The Hi Fi Lounge at 1822 Monroe Ave. This used to be the CD Exchange off of Hyland Drive (attached to the Stereo Shop) and on Mt Hope Ave before that (bought my first cd there!). Hi Fi Lounge » Mark has a really nice selection of vinyl and cds. Some nice new and used hardware, too. Worth checking out!

I also love the Record Archive at 33 1/3 Rockwood St, Rochester, NY. Cool address and even cooler place! Great selection of cds and vinyl, some used equipment. The back area is very impressive, but be sure to check out the back-back area! Record Archive - GET CASH FOR YOUR OLD MUSIC AND MOVIES! »

The Bopp Shop is great for vinyl, but not so much for cds (at least in MHO). They generally have some nice used (~$200) turntables. 1460 Monroe Ave. The Bop Shop »

Those three are located very close to each other, so if you're coming in from out of town, make sure to check out each of them!

The other BIG one is the HOG - the House of Guitars. In addition to a lot of instruments, they have a lot of used vinyl and cds, at least they used to...Haven't shopped there for anything except for a drum set for my kids in a long time. 645 Titus Ave. http://houseofguitars.com/

As a point of reference, I checked out the Sound Garden in Syracuse, but I liked the Record Archive better; its about even with the other locations.

Hope this helps, and if you have any other recommendations, please feel free to share!

 

Ditto for me. These 4 places are all great! I don't get back up to Rochester as much as I should.

I miss Record Archive in the big yellow building though. Of course, Mark's CD Exchange was just down Mt Hope Ave. from there. I remember meeting him back in '86 when he was painting the inside of the store (pink) prior to opening. Great times!

The new Record Archive is still pretty cool. The HOG is of course legendary. The Bop Shop always seemed to favor vinyl over CDs, going back to the 1980's.

I also loved Lakeshore Record Exchange in its various locations, especially when they were in Charlotte just off the lake.

Way back, there was also Record Menagerie in Fairport. Also, Record Time on Monroe Avenue. It was also nice when Record Theater was still in Rochester - something like 4 or 5 locations.

 

I miss Fantastic Records.

 

They were a fine store and originally called Fantasy Records. Those sidewalk sales were incredible!

 

I totally forgot about them!

Lakeshore Record Exchange is now near the other three places (all except the HOG), at 370 Park Ave. They probably have the best selection of alternative music (like you'd hear on a college radio station). While they have some vinyl, its their cd collection that really shines. Highly recommended! Alternativemusic.com - Home »

While there, you should get a slice at one of our best pizza places: Chester Cab (707 Park Ave, Chester Cab Pizza - 707 Park Avenue - Rochester, NY 14607 »). The only thing I don't like about them is that they don't have any indoor seating. In better weather, though, they have nice tables facing one of rochester's nicer streets. They do offer "curb side" delivery where they will bring your pizza to your car, though, which is pretty cool!