In Seattle for a day - best record stores?

Edit: thats 112 Print Works.

Satisfaction Records is not a shop right now, and, only open select days when advertised on Craigslist. (lost the lease and looking)

 

Bud's Jazz records was great. That and Cellophane Square, when it was in Bellevue Square, was where I bought most of my jazz collection. You can still find some good titles from time to time at Queen Anne's Silver Platters, Jive Time and Golden Oldies.

 

hey guys, just an update. So I am in Seattle finally! Went and checked out the EMP. Oh man, that Nirvana exhibit is something else.. just WOW. A MUST for any Nirvana fan. There's some real priceless gems in there. Went down to Easy Street as well, and bought a bunch of records and pretty much blew out my record spending budget for this trip. Think I'll check out Everyday music since it's close to my hotel. Thanks again everyone for the tips.

 

Everyday Music is great. Lots of stock and incoming every week. Make sure to check under the bins (in the racks) for their overstock. Gems can be found down there.

Up two blocks or so - on Pike - is Zions Gate. Make sure to hit that place. Lots of non-mainstream vinyl.

 

Bebop records in Ballard, across the street from Easy Street. Picked up a Beatles For Sale -2/-1 for cheap. Should have ample grunge.

 

Everday music was great! I managed to get a copy of Cobain/Burroughs - Priest they called him.. it was the black vinyl version, but i wanted ANY version of that record for a while.. got it for a fair price too. Also picked up the Grateful Dead s/t mono RSD release.

 

@raunchnroll - thanks for the tip of looking under the racks.. found the mighty lemon drops LP I had been looking for.. and for 3 bucks!

On the other hand, I have to say Zions Gate was one of the most overpriced record stores I have been to.. probably in the US and Europe (Singapore was expensive too). They pretty much marked everything up by 50-70% and most of the new records too were unsealed. Rare records that I wound't pay more than $30 for were straight up close to $100. Apparently a car ran through their store last week too! Angry customer? LOL (Thankfully no one was hurt, but the store is undergoing some renovation)

 

I have this week off, so I thought I'd use the time off to do some record / CD shopping. I made a list of stores in the Seattle - Everett - Bellevue area and thought it would be good to do a mid-2013 update on the list of record shops posted in this thread. If I missed any, let me know.

Al's Music Video & Games – Seattle (University District)
4547 University Way NE Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 547-3870

Bargain CD’s & Records – Everett
2501 Broadway Everett, WA 98201
(425) 259-4306

Bop Street Records – Seattle (Ballard)
2220 NW Market St Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 297-2232
http://www.bopstreetrecords.com/

Easy Street – Seattle (West Seattle)
4559 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA
(206) 938-3279
http://easystreetonline.com/

Everyday Music – Seattle
1520 10th Ave Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 568-3321
http://www.everydaymusic.com/

Fye – Lynnwood (Alderwood Mall)
3000 184th St SW # 810 Lynnwood, WA 98037
(425) 672-1770

Georgetown Records – Seattle (SoDo)
1201 S Vale St Seattle, WA 98108
(206) 762-5638
www.georgetownrecords.net

Golden Oldies – Seattle
201 NE 45th St Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 547-2260
http://www.goldenoldies-records.com/

Holy Cow Records – Seattle (Downtown)
1501 Pike St Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 405-4200

Jive Time Records – Seattle (Fremont)
3506 Fremont Ave N Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 632-5483
http://jivetimerecords.com/
http://jivetimerecords.com/coupons/

Jive Time Records Annex – Seattle (Fremont)
3419 Fremont Place North, Seattle, WA 98103

Melrose Vinyl Market - Seattle
1525 Melrose Ave, Seattle, WA 98112
206.568.2666 (between Pike/Pine)
Wednesday – Sunday 11am – 7pm

Neptune Music Company – Seattle (University District)
4344 Brooklyn Ave NE Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 632-0202

Porchlight Coffee & Records - Seattle
1318 E Pike St Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 329-5461
http://porchlightcoffee.com/

Silver Platters – Bellevue
15600 NE 8th St, Bellevue, WA 98008
(425) 643-3472
http://www.silverplatters.com/

Silver Platters – Seattle (Northgate)
9560 1st Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115
(206) 524-3472
http://www.silverplatters.com/

Silver Platters – Seattle (SoDo)
2930 1st Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98134
(206) 283-3472
http://www.silverplatters.com/

Sonic Boom Records – Seattle (Ballard)
2209 NW Market St Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 297-2666
http://www.sonicboomrecords.com/

Spin Cycle - Seattle
321 Broadway E, Seattle, WA 98102
(206) 971-0267

Vortex Music & Movies – Kirkland
12525 Totem Lake Blvd Kirkland, WA 98034
(425) 814-4141
http://vortexmusicmovies.com/

Wall of Sound – Seattle
315 E Pine St Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 441-9880
http://www.wosound.com/

Zions Gate Records – Seattle
1100 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 568-5446

 

Which ones are best for used cds? I don't buy vinyl....

 

For shops with a relatively decent inventory of used CD's I would say:

Bargain CD’s & Records – Everett
2501 Broadway Everett, WA 98201
(425) 259-4306

Easy Street – Seattle (West Seattle)
4559 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA
(206) 938-3279
http://easystreetonline.com/

Everyday Music – Seattle
1520 10th Ave Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 568-3321
http://www.everydaymusic.com/

Golden Oldies – Seattle
201 NE 45th St Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 547-2260
http://www.goldenoldies-records.com/

Silver Platters – Bellevue
15600 NE 8th St, Bellevue, WA 98008
(425) 643-3472
http://www.silverplatters.com/

Silver Platters – Seattle (Northgate)
9560 1st Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115
(206) 524-3472
http://www.silverplatters.com/

Silver Platters – Seattle (SoDo)
2930 1st Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98134
(206) 283-3472
http://www.silverplatters.com/

Sonic Boom Records – Seattle (Ballard)
2209 NW Market St Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 297-2666
http://www.sonicboomrecords.com/

I cannot comment on Spin Cycle, Vortex Music & Movies, Wall of Sound, Porchlight Coffee & Records, Georgetown Records, or Zion's Gate as I've never been to these shops.

 

Don't forget Half-Price Books; the best stores, imho, are in the U. District (47th & University Way), downtown Seattle on Capitol Hill (115 Belmont Ave E), and Redmond (7805 Leary Way).

I also like the above mentioned Jive Time Records in Fremont, and Golden Oldies in Wallingford; both of these are in fairly close proximity to one another. If you go to Golden Oldies, be sure to get either a Bravo Burrito (healthy choice) just east, or a Dick's Deluxe burger (not so healthy choice) just west of that store.

Hope this helps!

 

My favorite is still Silver Platters, which just moved to SoDo.
. I have found SO MANY cheap SACDs there in the used bins... most for $7!

The clerks there know what's up, and have always been really mellow -- not hipster jerks like so many other stores!


I also love the fact that they give a weekly coupon for $5 off >$20, which brings prices to well below even what the internet has!

 

hpb on capitol hill closed june 2nd. i haven't been to redmond or u district but i really like the one in bellevue. i always score big on vinyl there, and the prices are the best i've found in the region.

i worked on capitol hill for a couple of years and was a regular at everday music. i found them to be one of the best shops around, but then again i got to hit them a few times a week when they opened so i got the new arrivals. spin cycle on broadway is also a good shop, as is the melrose vinyl market.

 

Yeah, I like Silver Platters too, and you're absolutely right about that weekly coupon (I even have one of their discount cards!), but I've never found any SACDs in the used bins.

Hmm, disturbing news, but thanks for the heads up! I too usually also check out Everyday Music whenever I'm downtown (they also have a pretty good store up north in Bellingham), but then I live on the east-side, which is almost as much a different world as taking the ferry west to Kitsap county.

Seattle used to have even more great record stores than what is currently available. Remember Peaches? Man, I more or less built up my CD collection from shopping there as a UW undergrad back in the late 80s/early 90s, and at the now defunct Tower Records. Times have certainly changed....

 

skisdlimit,

What stores are on the Eastside besides Silver Platters, Vortex, and HPB? Also, is Vortex in Kirkland worth a trip?

 

Well, if it's not too far out of your way, you can certainly try Vortex, plus there's CD Euroxpress in Bellevue but that's a mail order company (http://www.cdeuroxpress.com/). I've sometimes had good luck hitting the thrift stores, like Goodwill (14515 NE 20th St Bellevue) and Value Village (12515 116th Ave NE Kirkland), if that's any help.

The sad reality is there's just not much in the way of music stores over here anymore, ever since the demise of Celluloid Square (loved that place) and Circuit City (not as good but was still worth a trip). Heck, there even used to be a Dick's on Bellevue Way...now that really shows how much has changed!

 

I'm not too far. Does Vortex have a decent sized inventory of music?

 

It's relatively small compared to some of the Seattle stores listed above, but if you're not too far then I'd say go for it.

BTW, it looks like I misnamed Cellophane Square above...was probably thinking about that Dick's burger!

 

fyi, vortex is ridiculously overpriced.

 

So the store on 1st Ave. is officially open? Has anyone been there yet? The selfish part of me is disappointed because the Queen Anne store was about a 10 minute drive from my house and super convenient - SoDo is a bit more of a stretch, but they will probaby get a more new business from the south end and West Seattle now. And the coupons are a great deal (you need to sign up for their email newsletter).

 

I work just down the road at Boeing Field but I'm not sure if it's open yet. I guess I'll have to start combining Pecos Pit BBQ sandwiches and record shopping at lunch time.

 

I checked their web site about a week ago because I was going to be in the Queen Anne area and they'd just moved to SoDo. They even had some in-stores scheduled at the new location.

Too bad, I used to hit both Easy Street and Silver Platters when I was anywhere close to the Seattle Center, but now they have both moved out. Not sure when I'll make it to the SoDo location and I get to West Seattle about once every five years. Northgate Silver Platters is closer to me, but they never had as good a selection of used CDs as the lower Queen Anne store.

 

I will miss the Saturday ritual with my husband of hitting Silver Platters and Easy Street, then retiring to McMenamins for a beer to go over our spoils. We might have to figure a way out to include a trip to the new store on Sounders game days. I do go to the Easy Street in West Seattle occasionally but their CD selection isn't as comprehensive as SP (who carry a lot of the import reissue labels I like, as well as jazz and modern classical) - cheap breakfasts in the cafe, though!

 

Not in my experience, some of his stuff can be a bit pricey but not any more pricey than jivetime or Silver platters or Easy Street.
He also has some really great stuff that is priced very fairly, i have got some real gems there in the last couple months, including Metallica - Master of Puppets LP for $10 VG+/VG+, Frigid Pink VG+/VG $5 Caravan - Land of the Gray and Pink UK VG/VG+$8 and whenever i see something priced to high and kindly mention it to the owner he is always willing to go down on price (as long as your not a jerk about it). Plus he has 15 and 20 percent off coupons and always honors them when i go in there, if you dont have a coupon aks for one and he will give you one. A great place to shop in my experience.