Chicago area record stores past and present (with photos)

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by larry333, Mar 19, 2012.

  1. Planbee

    Planbee Negative Nellie

    Location:
    Chicago
    Yeah, I made plenty of trips to Crest Hill just for them. 25 miles one way without a second thought.

    But I pretty much lived at their State and Jackson store. I worked a few blocks away and spent a lot of lunch hours there. I miss seeing that life-size cardboard cutout on the way downstairs of Mariah Carey in a dress. I thought about asking for it as a "souvenir" when the store closed, but I'd have probably gotten a lot of weird looks on the train. Not to mention that I'd probably have had to buy her a ticket... :laugh:

    Anyhoo, I have a few sealed things left from Crow's Nest, and here's their logo to jog your memory:
     

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  2. Pureprairie1972

    Pureprairie1972 New Member

    Location:
    USA Heartland
    I bought one of their jackets about 10 years ago from there.

    Could've spent the money on more music but I had to have this.
     

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  3. Planbee

    Planbee Negative Nellie

    Location:
    Chicago
    Very nice! Almost as nice as the Mariah Carey cardboard cutout... :winkgrin:

    Crow's Nest was a wonderful chain. Hard to believe I alone couldn't keep them afloat with all the money I spent there... :laugh:

    I started getting into jazz during their final years, and was able to pick up a bunch of DCC jazz CDs at retail price. Their jazz selection downstairs at State & Jackson was staggering. Depressing to think that location became a dime-a-dozen Barnes & Noble.
     
  4. mneuliep

    mneuliep Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ann Arbor, MI, USA
    So far all the references to Hegewisch have referred to their later stores in the burbs, but the absolute coolest record store ever, period, was the original actually in Hegewisch. Sorry, I haven't got any pics.
     
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  5. hootenanny

    hootenanny New Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Don't forget TEMPO / Wind records in Oak Lawn! They had a great small selection of import vinyl!
     
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  6. br6388

    br6388 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Homewood, Illinois
    Best I can do as far as pics go. The Wall sticker apprently is when Hegewisch entered the dot matrix age.
     

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  7. larry333

    larry333 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Park Ridge
    Dr. Wax, Evanston...
     

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  8. Henry Love

    Henry Love Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Anybody remember the United Furniture Mart on Milwaukee just north of Armitage? I bought most of my music there from the mid to late 60's.
     
  9. Planbee

    Planbee Negative Nellie

    Location:
    Chicago
    They were on 95th St., right? I special-ordered Queen's Greatest Hits CD from them back in the late '80s. That was only available as an import in those days.
     
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  10. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    No, but you just jogged my memory of Shopper's World...Intersection of Milwaukee, Foster, and Central. 1960-something...

    :help:
     
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  11. drewc

    drewc Forum Resident

    Not a single mention of Kiss The Sky out in Batavia??? After the Turntable closed it was the best record store in the burbs. Owner was high up in the Coalition of Independent Record Stores or whatever it was called. Sadly the economy forced them out of their giant Batavia store into a tiny location in … Geneva (?) recently and is a shadow of what it was.

    Man I miss the Turntable. Sucked up thousands of my cash over the years. Bob was directly responsible for much of my music tastes today; at the height of Madchester, when I was easily a weekly customer, it got to where I wouldn't even have to ask if the new Happy Mondays single was in. He'd already have pulled it and had it waiting behind the counter and when I finally made my weekly visit he'd pull out the records/CDs he automatically held back for me and left them on the counter while I browsed.

    I remember talking shoegaze with him. Before Curve had a single record out he was already selling me on them. Sure enough, when their debut release (the Blindfold EP) came in, he already had it pulled for me.

    I was just some dorky high school / college kid into cool music. Folks like Bob and Carol (and Bob Jr, also awesome dude) are sorely missed. That's how you build loyalty and customer satisfaction.
     
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  12. Trebor

    Trebor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, USA
    Has anyone mentioned the fruits of the 'burbs? Remember Oranges, Peaches and Apple Tree Records? And then going back a way, Flip Side and Skippers.
     
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  13. larry333

    larry333 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Park Ridge
    2nd Hand Tunes in Evanston, Illinois...
     

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  14. Ben Adams

    Ben Adams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    The corner shop, as managed by Rob Gillis and Aadam Jacobs in the '90s. My vinyl shop was half a block down to the right.

    Wow, that really brought back memories!
     
  15. Ben Adams

    Ben Adams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    2nd Hand vinyl 1.jpg

    The 2nd Hand Tunes vinyl shop on Dempster, Evanston, IL, December 1991

    2nd Hand vinyl 2.jpg

    Me in the shop. I look a bit down because I was just about to head out to O'Hare to catch a flight to Reno for my grandfather's funeral, and I was worried that the snowstorm was going to shut down all flights.

    Look at those bin cards! I loved bin cards. I believed any group with more than 3 releases should have a bin card. Way too many shops these days have a massive FAIL when it comes to bin cards.
     
  16. Jeff Edwards

    Jeff Edwards Senior Member

    I always go in the current 2nd Hand Tunes when I visit my son at Northwestern. I was in there yesterday!
     
  17. mschrist

    mschrist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    In my time (early '90s) and place (northwest), it was the Rose Records on Milwaukee Ave., near Golf Mill...
     
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  18. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    I'll have to search for photos, but here are a few, hopefully none has been covered:

    Dog Ear in Glenview and Libertyville. I actually worked there for a month once. Record City, owned by radio personality Jim Stagg, was in Skokie. There was Algonquin Records in Des Plaines, operated by two brothers, who are in fact still there.

    Chicago Digital was in multiple locations but Chris remains in his Oak Park location. Of the practitioners, he's remained the best for my money, knowledgeable but not arrogant. I still get there as often as once a month. Great classical selection.

    The best pop/rock store left is Disc Replay in Crest Hill, near Joliet. They just moved into a new, larger store. It's the only record store I've visited in recent times that appears to have a constantly busy atmosphere and genuine excitement. They post upcoming new releases and one of the few stores where I find rock recordings I can't find online. There are other Disc Replay stores, but none that has this kind of energy. Perhaps their Naperville location too, but different owners, at least that's what they told me.

    I was shocked a couple of months ago when I visited the Northwest side and Rolling Stone Records is still there. I didn't get a chance to go in, but was happy to see it's still in operation.

    Others have mentioned Hank at Remember When in Downers Grove. I miss him and the store. I spent a lot of quality time there with my two sons who are musicians.
     
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  19. larry333

    larry333 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Park Ridge
    Virgin Records - Michigan Avenue, Chicago
     

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  20. Marty Milton

    Marty Milton Senior Member

    Location:
    Urbana, Illinois
    120 miles south of Chicago in Champaign-Urbana, IL we had a great record store. It was Record Service. The store started as a co-op started by several Univ of Illinois students that started their business in the basment of the U of I-YMCA. They had great prices, and were a main-stay here until around 2000.
     
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  21. mw1917

    mw1917 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    Spent many a weekend rooting through the bins at that 2nd Hand Tunes location (before the corner one even opened!) during high school in the late 80s. You fed my Kinks and XTC obsessions well, I saw my only butcher cover (peeled), bought Prince's Black Album a full six years before it was released (hmmm...), and you stocked records by Chicago's legendary Green.

    For those indelible memories, I thank 2nd Hand Tunes.
     
  22. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Weren't they also called Discount Records for a while? Next to Pacific Stereo right?
     
  23. mschrist

    mschrist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    My recollection was that the store stopped being a Rose Records around 1994, but continued on with different name and a focus on used vinyl. I don't remember what it was called but "Discount Records" sounds right. I don't remember Pacific Stereo but given I was a broke college kid at the time I wouldn't have if it was there.
     
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  24. Thrills

    Thrills Forum Resident

    Location:
    North by Northwest
    Moving to Urbana soon. Hoping to make a trek to Chicago to check out some stores. Great thread.
     
    Marty Milton likes this.
  25. JA Fant

    JA Fant Well-Known Member

    Very cool!
     

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