Rough Trade New York moving to ?

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by Mazzy, Jan 19, 2021.

  1. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    There was an article posted earlier in this thread and Rough Trade basically said that it was a wash rent wise vs their old location; higher rates but smaller footprint plus a landlord who seems to be prioritising the type of retail at street level rather than rent maximisation.
     
  2. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    Sounds like Amoeba but Amoeba had the building. 30 Rock....Whoah! (Fonz wolf call '77).
     
  3. joeislive

    joeislive Streets Ahead

    I was passing by Radio City and thought I’d check out the new location. Wow what a disappointment! I can’t say I’m too surprised but man what a difference between this and the Williamsburg location. I counted maybe 5 or 6 tables/racks of records and they had the reggae squeezed in with the punk/ metal etc. I knew it was going to be a tourist spot but the size and selection makes it look like a pop up boutique store. If there were more floors that I missed that’s on me, but I don’t think I missed any. I get it ,NY real estate isn’t cheap and all etc etc but still shocked at the downsize. It’s so much easier to get to by subway for me but unfortunately there’s no
    reason for me to go back. Hopefully it does well enough to expand some day..
     
    ted321 and bmh5879 like this.
  4. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    5 or 6 tables and 30 Rock location? Good lord, can they pay the electricity bill?
     
  5. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    Small CD selection....NOT interested ! I don't do vinyl, so it's not a place for me
    Can't wait to get to the West Coast and get to Amoeba

    NYC remains a music buyer's wasteland....
     
    ted321 and bmh5879 like this.
  6. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    Been dead for years. Looking forward to Amoeba? In '72 the bumper stickers said "Nixon now more than ever"....now it should be "Rockaway, now more than ever".
     
  7. bmh5879

    bmh5879 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SoCal
    I mentioned this in the Vintage Vinyl closing thread, but the stores in NJ/NYC make it easier to shop online as far as I'm concerned. I am pretty much down to Jack's and Prex for used CD shopping at this point. Everyone else just prices used vinyl based off of Discogs at this point. And I buy most new vinyl through Amazon or direct from smaller artists/labels.

    Bummed to hear about Rough Trade. Williamsburg was a cool spot and I saw The Church and Ryan Adams play there which were both really great shows.
     
  8. btstu

    btstu Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    There are still a good amount of record stores open in the city, I think we're just seeing a shift away from Rough Trade / Amoeba / Tower type places that sell everything, and more towards specialized boutique-type stores. That may be a consequence of ever-increasing rents, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing.

    For rock, metal, and punk music Generation Records and Limited to One in the east village are excellent; for jazz the Jazz Record Center can't be beat; for most genres late '70s-'90s A1 Record Shop is awesome (pretty good jazz selection too); for hip-hop, R&B, and pretty much any new releases / RSD there's Rock & Soul DJ in midtown, a cool spot nobody ever mentions. I don't like Stranded due to the prices and the staff but I know some people really enjoy going there. I do like Academy on 18th street, small selection but usually some cool stuff if you keep an open mind. (Also great Criterion Collection blu-ray selection)

    We can all lament when more stores were open, but there are plenty of cool spots still open today. Everything I just named is in Manhattan—there are probably twice as many in Brooklyn!
     
    Strummergas and zphage like this.
  9. btstu

    btstu Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    They have been closed since covid but I think are getting ready to reopen in a new location in Brooklyn

    It is now!
     
    baconbadge and Tommyboy like this.
  10. Collapsed Lung

    Collapsed Lung Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I agree completely...except of course for the Jazz Record Center on 26th...

    Oh, and Stranded on 5th...

    ...also, Academy down on 12th...

    Don't forget Limited to One on 10th...

    But yeah, other than that --

    Oh, and there's also Academy on 18th.

    But yeah, total wasteland NYC is.

    Oh, but don't forget Downtown Music Gallery on Monroe in Chinatown (maybe the most overrated store in NYC, but a decent, dedicated store nonetheless).

    So, yeah, just a record store desert.

    Except for Generations on Thompson (the last of the decent Village shops -- I've found cool stuff there, but you gotta dig).

    Completely barren.

    But don't forget Cinderblock People up in Harlem on 142nd.

    Just a burned out wasteland...

    Oh, I forgot the Chelsea Flea Market, where I've been able to scoop up incredible jazz, R&B, reggae, and avant-garde LPs for peanuts.

    But other than that, New York City is worthless for records.

    Oops! Forgot Stray Cat Vintage at the Grand Bizarre on Sundays in the Upper West Side. Just one flea market stall, but filled with a wide range of cool LPs at negotiable prices.

    OK, yeah, that's it. New York City has no good record stores.

    Dang -- forgot the Westsider Records on 72nd. Not quite what it once was, but I found some great Pere Ubu bootlegs there just a few weeks ago -- reasonably priced and in great shape.

    So, yeah, I agree with @jjhunsecker -- New York City is a vast, empty sea devoid of record stores.

    Oh, there's also the Westsider further up Broadway at 80th. Only a small LP selection, but I picked up some pretty scarce Richard Thompson and Go-Betweens LPs there not long ago at a fair price.

    But all in all, @jjhunsecker is right: New York City is totally scorched earth when it comes to record shops.

    Oh, but there are also there are a few Barnes & Nobles around if you need to buy something for your dad...but they also can be a good source for Run Out Groove titles, jazz LPs, and exclusives -- and they always have coupons available that lower the price, so I can't rule them out entirely.

    So, yes, @jjhunsecker is correct when he claims that New York City is a ravaged husk that has been pillaged of all good record stores.

    Almost forgot Mercer Street Books in between the West and East Villages. You gotta dig, but I've found cool stuff there. Scored an ECM rarity I'd been looking for for ages there not too long ago.

    But still, @jjhunsecker is entirely within reason to claim that New York City is a dusty lunar hellscape unsullied by quality record stores.

    (Hats of to @btstu for jumping in on this first!)
     
    CraigC, baconbadge, dlemaudit and 2 others like this.
  11. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    I know of one person who hit whatever is left as "record stores" in NYC recently. Terrible prices, leftover eBay Discogs rejects on anything else "good". "Pillaged" is a good word. 5 people told him that the stores just let their friends get anything of value before they hit the racks. Rents will never allow the old days to return. 1982 in Greenwich Village was incredible for records. Farfels was amazing. Where did their thousands of 45's go? Mountains of punk and new wave 45's were all over the city.
     
    ted321 and bmh5879 like this.
  12. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    Come on - half of those places suck. NYC is a embarrassment for record stores, given its size.
     
    jjhunsecker and Cronverc like this.
  13. Collapsed Lung

    Collapsed Lung Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I named 12 stores/markets (not including Rough Trade, which I had mixed feelings about before and after their move).

    I think three of them (the two Westsiders and Mercer Street Books) are the kind of stores where you have to get lucky, and it doesn't happen too often. But the other three-fourths of the list I've had reliable experiences with over the years, provided I know what to expect. I wouldn't go to Barnes and Noble for La Monte Young bootlegs, and I wouldn't expect to find the new Neil Young and Crazy Horse at the Jazz Record Center.

    Should Manhattan have more, better stores? Sure! But I'm not going to complain about the dedicated folks owning, staffing, and operating what we do have, which, having grown up in the south with spotty record shops for the first part of my life, is still pretty great. And I didn't even mention the pretty lousy shops that dot the Village. Speaking of...

    If they hit the remaining record stores in the Village (Record Runner, House of Oldies, A1, Village Music World, etc), yeah, those places are way past their prime and pretty weak. In that neighborhood, I think Academy, Generations, and Stranded still have a fair amount to offer...but of course, it's a very fluid business -- inventory comes and goes quickly -- so your friend may have just hit them at a bad time. It happens...

    Of course, if you see a need for a great record store in Manhattan that you think is not being filled, open up a shop yourself! I'd be glad to stop by.
     
  14. bmh5879

    bmh5879 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SoCal
    I used to do pretty good at Generation Records but that was 10-12 years ago. Some of my greatest vinyl finds came from there. I picked up originals of Wish, Wild Mood Swings and Bloodflowers in the new arrival bins on one shopping trip, all marked at $40 ea. Cure fans know what those cost now.

    I can't find anything in a NYC store these days that I can't find online for the same price or in most cases less. But that seems to be pretty standard across the board for most stores in this area.
     
  15. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    It's really weird that you think they would or should still be there.

    But please keep repeating that there's nothing to be found anymore. That means there's fewer people in my way when I'm in Manhattan and Brooklyn buying enough LPs and 45s that I always have to take an extra empty bag or two with me from Boston to carry home on Amtrak.
     
    baconbadge likes this.
  16. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Record shopping in NYC is a shell of its former self but I'm glad for what's still here, especially the three Academy stores and Generation.
     
  17. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    If you want to pay NYC prices in 2021 with a Coke n a smile....you have my sympathy. For a city as big as NYC it is a disgrace for record stores, however; I can't say why....the rents must be killer.
     
  18. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Except when I'm indulging my taste for vintage Italian and Japanese discs at the JRC, the stuff I'm buying runs about 5 to 20 bucks a disc. You can keep your sympathy, hoss, I'm doing fine over here.
     
  19. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    I wonder what the JRC is? Nobody can be that dumb running a used record store in 2021 not looking up stuff, especially NYC. NYC is a total loss for buying anything good that isn't book priced. Give me Downstairs Records in 1974 42nd and 6th in the subway arcade.
     
  20. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Uh huh. You keep telling yourself that. Hint: different people might have different ideas about what's "good." But then, it looks like I'm dealing with someone who's never heard of the Jazz Record Center, so it's weird that you think you have the slightest idea what's going on in NYC record stores. You have a nice night, now.
     
    baconbadge and Collapsed Lung like this.
  21. dj-crypto

    dj-crypto Active Member

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Also Manhattan45 right across the street from Limited To One
     
    Collapsed Lung likes this.
  22. Collapsed Lung

    Collapsed Lung Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Wait -- have you even BEEN to New York City in the past forty years? You just mentioned a person that you "know of" visited some stores that you won't name.

    There are still great deals to be had in NYC these days: I know, because instead of furiously spewing vitriol from the oxygen-depleted climes of the mile-high city, I'm actually visiting shops and markets in Manhattan every week...it may not be the glory days of the Village in the times of Paul Major or Lenny Kaye, but nothing is in this post-internet/eBay/discogs era.

    Something tells me nothing would make you happy, though -- not even the $20 Impulse rarity I scored at JRC, the avant-garde minimalist classic I picked up at the flea market for $4, the obscure cold-wave 45 I bought from the table of a sidewalk vendor for a buck, the double acetate of composer demos for the musical Chicago that I got from a $5 bin at a record show on 57th, or any of the other cool discoveries I've been lucky enough to make here over the past few years...

    While I'd love to return your needless, baseless invective and make fun of Denver/Boulder stores, I've actually been there and found some cool stuff.
     
    dj-crypto likes this.
  23. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    NYC is done, read the posts. You have to dig through tons of vinyl to find something worthwhile. JRC looks up everything they aren't dumb. My brother was the one who went into the city after a record show. He laughed. The prices stink, the record shows in Massapequa and Wayne are great.. At one time Denver stores were great but the eBay and Discogs holds killed them for great stuff cept the book priced stuff put in the racks. The 4 biggest are owned by silver spooners, rent is no problem. One owner's father owns the building! Another a strip mall with store number 2. Do you realize how many Discogs and eBay dealers come into stores? At Amoeba L.A. they need a ticket check to get to the new arrivals. Book stores that once in awhile get records are a good source. I bought 35 Northern Soul 45's, same one, for $15 and made my new car a $30 purchase. The problem for finding stuff today is time and battling the internet dealers. The Mile High Flea Market was once great but boxes of $5 VG Journey albums and all the dealers already handed cards "please sell call me up on vinyl before you bring them" ended the trip for me.
     
    Cronverc likes this.
  24. Strummergas

    Strummergas Senior Member

    Location:
    Queens, NY
    And that's just Manhattan!

    Folks, it's a big city with a big population. These stores get plenty of good stuff, but timing is everything. The good stuff doesn't stick around for very long.
     
    dj-crypto and Collapsed Lung like this.
  25. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Oh. At last I get it.

    You don't actually like music. You like bargains.

    Everything about your posts makes SO MUCH more sense now. If you don't feel you're making an outrageous score, you're not interested. It's a contest that has nothing to do with actually enjoying music.

    Weird.
     
    Collapsed Lung likes this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine