Greater Houston area record stores?

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by stax o' wax, Dec 27, 2018.

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  1. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    The West
    I will be in the Houston area over the weekend.
    I will have some time on my hands and would love to hit some good record stores.
    I'm mainly into quality used vinyl, are there some standout record stores?
    Any recommends would be appreciated.
    Thanks.
     
  2. MKHopkins

    MKHopkins Break out the Hats and Hooters

    Location:
    Beaver Falls, PA
    I go to Houston for work every couple of monthe. Sig’s Lagoon off Main is the only one I have found that I consider worthwhile.
     
  3. Tom B

    Tom B Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ojai
    I'm local. Cactus is the 'big one' in terms of range of stock and opinion of itself. Overpriced though. Vinal Edge (yes, Vinal) in The Heights can yield some interesting non-mainstream things and is good on used prices - though used stock goes quickly. Sound Exchange on Richmond (is it still there? I read it was moving) is small and has some ok jazz. Sigs Lagoon? Used to live very near and after a bunch of visits I realized the stock is overpriced and fairly static.

    Black Dog was good before it moved out of the 'inner loop' and is now characterless and directionless without much of anything. The record shop -Soundwaves? - on Montrose that is also a surf-y shop has little of interest.

    Honestly, most things I buy in Houston tend to be from various Half Price Books branches.

    WAIT! Just realized this thread was for a couple weeks ago... so I'm late. Sorry. Interested about what you thought though... most of my 'local' buying happens two hours north west in good ol' Austin. Far better.
     
    BluesOvertookMe and steelydanguy like this.
  4. Maurice

    Maurice Senior Member

    Location:
    North Yarmouth, ME
    Which store is best for used CDs?
     
  5. LordThanos1969

    LordThanos1969 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    I went to Houston last year for a vacation and to look for CDs and records and pretty much found your comments on the stores to be accurate. I think for the size of the city, Houston is not a particularly great place to music shop. The Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin areas have more interesting, worthwhile options.

    I would like to add that the Soundwaves shop is now a complete waste of time, and they have replaced the cafe with some kind of service for the Chinese consulate.

    One store you did not mention is Dimensions Comics, Music & More. It is a very cool store located in Seabrook, which may be too far away from Houston proper for some to visit. It looks like a very small place from the front, but actually stretches back a fair distance with what seems like a maze of different rooms of collectibles. Their vinyl stock is relatively small, but they have a fair amount of CDs. It is worth a visit if you have the time to drive out there.

    Another interesting out of the way store is Vinyl Heaven in League City. This was the last store I visited before flying home, so I did not have as much time as I would have liked to have looked through their stock. They have some CDs, but the main emphasis is vinyl. I think if I had had enough time, I could have found some records to buy.
     
    Tom B likes this.
  6. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    Don't forget the rib joints.
     
  7. Daddy-O4

    Daddy-O4 Senior Member

    Location:
    United States
    I just finished a Houston swing looking for used CDs only - no vinyl. Here is what I found:

    Overall, I had the most success at the various Half Price Books locations. Large selection, fair prices, clearance sections (typically $2) and the cases aren’t shrink-wrapped.

    A :tiphat: to @LordThanos1969 for the recommendation of Dimension Comics in Seabrook. Large selection, well organized and while prices are higher than HPB, I found several imports/early pressings.

    Sig’s Lagoon is a very cool store, but a complete waste of time for CDs. Small selection of common stuff, albeit fairly priced.

    Vinal Edge - Worth a visit. Decent selection and well organized. Pricing was kind of all over the map, meaning some bargains can be had if you are diligent. Of course “all over the map” means there’s definitely overpriced stuff as well.

    Cactus Music - The headline here is to go straight for the bargain section. In the “regular” section, all CDs are in protective cases and new and used are mixed together. Very time consuming and frustrating to flip through and not worth the effort, IMHO. Bargain section has no protective cases and most are $3. Found a couple of early releases here.
     
  8. Tom B

    Tom B Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ojai
    All sounds pretty much the way it is. A sorry state of affairs when HPB (sadly the two inner-loop ones have recently closed) provides the best options for CDs, but that is my experience too, after 14 years here.
     
    LordThanos1969 and Daddy-O4 like this.
  9. LordThanos1969

    LordThanos1969 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    This sounds like my most recent trip to Houston in August 2019. I'm glad you were able to get to Dimension Comics. It is a bit out of the way, but I probably found the best stuff of the trip there. Sig's Lagoon used to have more CDs, but it seems like they are really focused on vinyl now.
     
    Daddy-O4 likes this.
  10. madrac

    madrac Forum Resident

    Location:
    houston, texas
    If you are on the north side, Sound Revolution isn't too bad. Two locations - one on 249 at Louetta and the other on FM 1960/Cypress Creek Parkway at Ella Blvd.
     
    Rosskolnikov likes this.
  11. maxbe

    maxbe Active Member

    Location:
    arizona, USA
    Sig's lagoon record Shop is a big record store in the Houston area. Here you can shop your record on the weekend.
     
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