Any good record stores in Dallas??

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by Tony Caldwell, Mar 14, 2002.

  1. fuse999

    fuse999 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas
  2. jlc76

    jlc76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, TX, U.S.A.
    If you are into higher dollar fare, be sure and ask to see the records in the back room. We spent hours looking through the regular stuff which looked like your typical Half Price bin, which if you are looking for Dire Straits or Bozz Scaggs records then you're in luck. In the back room I found a promo of Velvet Underground's self-titled third LP, and there were a ton of odd things like Nurse With Wound records. Mind you, the prices are ebay+ but I've learned you can barter with most people and at this point I don't mind paying a premium for extremely clean vinyl that I can visually inspect before buying.

    There was another startup record store in the same square when I was there (maybe 2 years ago), and then there is a bookstore a few miles away in a strip center that had a ton of records but the weirdest pricing scheme. Records priced $300 but they were 80% off so they were basically going rate plus.
     
  3. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    I don't like that smell. That and not having items priced--double deal breaker.

    I may go to Half-Priced Book instead of CD Source, although I don't buy vinyl at all these days. On the other hand, the staff of the CD Source were just about perfect--they asked if I needed anything, told me to ask if I did, and then got out of my way. I may only have an hour to browse, so how is the CD selection at Half-Priced Books? (and with that name, I could also browse the books, I suppose.)

    JcS
     
  4. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    It's a fantastic book store (in the used realm) and a mediocre CD store.
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2013
  5. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    Something just occurred to me--I have a ton of stuff that I'm never going to play again. Which store--even if it is stinky Bill's place--pays the best for used CDs? I don't expect to get premium prices, but I'm not going to give them away, either; I can always try to sell 'em on eBay.

    JcS
     
  6. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    or here
     
  7. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    I believe Bill does not buy from customers. He has far more records than will fit in his store. In my limited experience, HPB pays about 10% of retail for the stuff they're going to sell at half of retail, if it's something that will sell.
     
  8. mattydork

    mattydork Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado Springs
    I grew up in Dallas and fondly remember lots of great stores which are sadly gone now. I lived very close to the old location of Collector's Records in Casa Linda but their forte was older 78s and not so much new stuff. I could always count on Randy at RPM to get stuff directly from Mute (Depeche, Yazoo, Erasure) at reasonable prices. In later years he also rented LaserDiscs. Hit Records in Casa View was only a bike ride away and Chris (who later worked at the local WEA office) always helped with my Bruce Cockburn and U2 demands. I also miss the old chains like Peaches and Sound Warehouse. I had my first post high school job at the Town East location of Sound Warehouse and worked for them from 1985-90. Most of that time I managed the "singles" department for that store and the Skillman location. I then moved over to manage various stores for Musicland/Sam Goody until 1994. My favorite was the Musicland at West End Marketplace. We could stand in the window and watch the weekly Q102 concerts in the summer. I remember Bill's and had a love/hate relationship with that store. The stories are true... he would size you up based on what he thought you could/would pay. A lot of the kids that shopped there had disposable income and didn't care that they were being overcharged. I would go with my best friend all the time and we would purposefully "dress down" so as not to set off his high price radar. We also made sure to never wear a t-shirt of a band we were looking for as well. After a while of getting to know him he became more reasonable. Maybe because he appreciated the return business. There was one time I was interning at the local RCA office and took a band in for an autograph session. I found a couple of things I wanted and he rang them up. At some point he realized I was with the label and refunded my money but let me keep the records (I had also gone out to my car to fetch a big box full of promos too). I have been to his store in downtown and yes, it still reeks of cigarette smoke. I went with my same best friend and he remembered us from all that time ago. Anyway... I am getting nostalgic and rambling. I can't wait for my next trip to Dallas to check out some of these stores... especially CD Source.
     
  9. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    Yeah, I guess that's true. I've been a member here for about a decade, and have never looked in the marketplace! :hide:

    JcS
     
  10. Mister Keith

    Mister Keith Chillin'

    Just got back from Dallas. HPB locations at Nwest hiway and McKinney left me underwhelmed (high prices, mediocre selection). Stopped at Recycled in Denton before visiting my sister. Vinyl selection is much more impressive since last year. Still, it's good to be back home.
     
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  11. LePompDior

    LePompDior Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    The first 10+ CDs I ever bought were from that Mesquite location. I still remember walking in as a 12 year-old and scoring the first issue Nirvana Bleach CD with poster, which I still have. I still have Charlatans, Catherine Wheel, and Depeche Mode stickers from that Sound Warehouse on my guitar case. RPM is the reason I started collecting vinyl. Bill sold everything worth buying on eBay before moving downtown. Mad World in Denton is definitely worth checking out. CD Source is hit-or-miss, but better than the big HPB, which has pretty much been a bust since 2005. That HPB used to put 2-4 boxes full of "new arrival" records out on the floor every few days. Now they hardly even have a "new arrival" section. Most of the time the new arrival records are just sorted into their respective bins.
     
  12. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    I took a box of CDs with me--maybe 80 or so--and went to CD Source. They wanted me to leave them and come back some time because they were busy. I said I understand being busy, since I'm busy a lot, but I was from Arkansas, and only had about an hour or two in town. So, they got someone to come over to the pricing desk, and started going through my discs. Every time I walked into that area of the store, someone was looking at what I had, deciding what they wanted and pricing it. In the end, they took 20-25, I guess (I looked at the stack to see just what was no longer in the box, and to make sure I didn't give them something I was going to regret tomorrow), and I had 77 bucks in store credit. I used the time I was waiting to make a list on the notes feature of my iPhone of what I wanted, so I walked back through the store and picked up stuff, running a total on my calculator until I got close to that number. I got 11 new (to me) discs, including 5 that filled in some gaps in my Ryan Adams collection.

    Random thoughts:

    1. Nice people working there. When they learned they had to accommodate me because I was from out of town, they did. They could have easily have said (to themselves), "this isn't a regular customer, we don't need to do anything special for him."

    2. Same nice people helped on the floor when I was looking around. Not constant badgering, just letting me know if I needed anything to ask. Once, I did, and got help immediately.

    3. I was satisfied with the number of discs they took--there was some real junk in there that I'd picked up for 4-for-a-dollar at Hastings a few years ago, and I doubted they'd want much of it. I do think they took a couple of titles.

    4. I was satisfied with the price they gave me in trade on what they wanted.

    5. The store is clean. I took my friend that is undergoing cancer treatment into the store (they weren't quite done pricing when I needed to pick him up, so I went to get him, as we had to drive back past the store to go home anyway) without any concern that he'd be in a dusty environment that might make him sick.

    6. The Record Exchange in North Little Rock is close to being as good a store as CD Source, but the layout isn't as good (it's cramped there), and the selection is spottier. Still, I recommend going to it when you are in the area. I didn't know how much I missed browsing in a good store for a couple of hours until I did it this week.

    JcS
     
  13. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    Two years later, I'm back in Dallas--and may be with some regularity, as my son is living here, at least for awhile--and learned CD Source is gone. To quote Charlie Brown: RATS.

    JcS
     
  14. JeffMo

    JeffMo Format Agnostic

    Location:
    New England
    @jamesc may be able to tell you where to shop these days. Then again he may be mostly internet retail.... :)
     
    jamesc likes this.
  15. Steve Martin

    Steve Martin Wild & Crazy Guy

    Location:
    Plano, TX
    Josey Records is probably worth a look. I heard a few CD Source employees ended up there... http://joseyrecords.com
     
  16. jamesc

    jamesc Senior Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Yeah, that was a real bummer. I really liked that place.

    I went to Josey Records when they first opened and the place is huge! Unfortunately, all I found was a bunch of disorganized, over-priced, beat up records but things may have improved. It's the first time ever that I went to a new record store and didn't buy a thing. Disappointing after spending several hours there.

    I've heard Good Records is truly good but I haven't been there still. I think Forever Young in Arlington is one of the better places in DFW. They're pricey but they do have some good stuff. I also have on and off success at various Half Price Books in the area. Good luck in your search!
     
  17. Smartin62

    Smartin62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleburne, Tx USA
    I'v e been buying from Forever Young since way back when they were in Irving on the second deck in a little shopping center (can't remember but I think it was in the late 80's when I first discovered them).

    While the lp covers are sometimes beat-up. I have yet to ever buy used vinyl from them that's less than VG++/NM. Worth the price to me.

    But, alas, last time I was in there they only had lots of "Greatest Hits" and not much in the way of original lp's (at least for the artists I was looking for). Still worth a look.

    http://www.foreveryoungrecords.com/

    It's a little tricky to get into it coming from I-20. Once on 360 going North, be prepared to exit off to the right very quickly. Stay on the service road thru the light and it's there just up on the right. Merging traffic on 360 can be very heavy, as well.

    I think the owner's name is Dave, be sure to say "Hello" to him. Super nice, knowledgeable guy. The staff is nice, as well.
     
    Mr. LP Collector likes this.
  18. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    I don't think I've bought a vinyl record this millennium; how is the CD selection/prices?

    I didn't have time to go anywhere except a Half-Price Books in Richardson, and wasn't really in the CD buying mood today. Translation: My wife was with me...

    JcS
     
  19. Smartin62

    Smartin62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleburne, Tx USA
    It's been a while since I went to the store (a couple of years - I live 30 mile away) so I can't speak to today. The CD section was somewhat large but is filled with the standard current fare (both new & used). Chances are you won't find any valuable oop/htf CD's (but you might). Prices were about what you would pay for anything on Amazon (at least they were as of a couple of years ago). Their B&B is vinyl. But, again, while the condition of the vinyl is always great, the selection was disappointing (imho).
     
  20. dave-gtr

    dave-gtr Forum Resident

    Hi folks, it's been a year since the last post in this thread. I am heading to Dallas-Ft. Worth in a couple of weeks. Can I get an update from fellow forum members regarding recommended CD and Record Stores in that area? Seems that some old faves in this thread have gone out of business!
     
  21. ToddH

    ToddH Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mansfield, Texas
    Forever young is one of the biggest record stores in the country. They have everything. A month ago a tornado took their roof off and they had some damage. They now have a new roof and are back up and running.

    There are a bunch of places to buy records/cd's in DFW. Forever Young. Good Records and Josey records will most likely have whatever you are looking for.

    The large amount of Half Price Books here also have tons of records and cd's. I buy cd's for a dollar from half price book every week. Cassettes for a quarter.

    Vinyl is hit or miss at HPB but Cd's are cheap as they can get.
     
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  22. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    You need to hit Josey Records :righton:
     
    Grootna likes this.
  23. dave-gtr

    dave-gtr Forum Resident

    Thanks! Anyone else?
     
  24. Mr. LP Collector

    Mr. LP Collector Forum Resident

    Forever Young IS a big store. I've known Dave Eckstrom for a long time. Yes, he is pricey on collectible music. He also pays well. I know, in my earlier years with the Austin show he would buy generally 20 to 25 lp's from me. There was never a problem with price discounts, I'd quote a price and he would pay it. No quibbling, no nothing. As a casual seller, I always appreciated his business and his input. And as a collector of rare 60's/70's vinyl I'd been to his store (though it's been years) and as I would bring in stuff to sell he would pay me better than any other dealer I've sold to. As a collector and sometime seller I wish more people would be that way. Treating the seller with respect, that's all any collector wants.

    I'm a two days drive from Dallas but am contemplating going to Austin for their Spring record show. I know where Dave's store is, where are Good and Josey located at?
     
  25. Claxton

    Claxton I like chicks and cars and partyin’ hard

    Location:
    The 817, TX
    Josey and Good are in Dallas proper, I'm guessing 20 or so minutes each from Forever Young.
     
    Mr. LP Collector likes this.

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