Best and worst record stores you have visited.

What is your favorite or most hated record store.

 

My all-time favorite: Waterloo Records in Austin

 

the two worst i have ever visited was WHEREHOUSE mostly defunct since being bought out by trans-world.
they used to butcher their products booklets either clipping big corner clips or punching holes through booklet so they could identify them as used if they came back in. loathed that.
then they were spun over to SECOND SPIN and started to use price sticker labels on digipak cases that was un-removable labels. if they were on more than a couple months. the residual is impossible to remove. sometimes ruining long out of print titles.
second is ZIA in nevada mostly. i once took off 25 separate pieces of scotch tape from a digipak case, all over top, bottom, side edges. (everytime someone would look at it inside the store i guess they would add more tape to it to try to seal it up again) of course some of the text and cardboard were destroyed by this even with lighter fluid and care.
their utter disregard for the value of the product just to adhere to their policy was baffling.

 

Zia in Arizona and Nevada... never too much tape was their policy... I suffered. Scotch tape is the worst.

 

Best record store I'd been to was probably Hegewisch Records & Tapes in Valparaiso, IN. Amazing selection, wonderful experience.

Orbit Records in Mishawaka was pretty darn good back in the 1980s/1990s, sadly they've had to go the "less music, more t-shirt and head shop items" to keep doors open. Last time I was there some clerk with face piercings was criticizing my choice of vinyl albums I was buying so I took my business elsewhere.

Heck, even Best Buy was pretty awesome in the mid to late 1990s.

I would LOVE to go to Amoeba Records someday!

I would say maybe the worst record stores were probably the typical Sam Goody type of chain store.. crappy selection and super high prices.

 

My favorite and my worst are the same for the Bay Area

Amoeba San Francisco. The only place (so far) that prices some of its new product ABOVE suggested retail. They have pretty good use stuff there and, occasionally, I'll find a reasonably priced rarity.

There was also a place I went to in Chiacgo--it was a hole in the wall where he had photo copies of the CD booklet rather than the actual CD packaging out there. He had to look up how much to charge me for a Zo,goes album on Cd I can't remember the name for the life of me right now.

 

I have a few in L.A. that like going to: Amoeba, Freakbeat, and Rockaway.

I have yet to go into a record store that I hate.

 

My favorite record store is PURE POP Records in Burlington, VT. Funky little basement full of treasure.

 

Best record stores for me are Waterloo Records, Austin Texas and LoveMusic Glasgow. Great places! I'd love to go to Amoeba too!
Zia in Las Vegas gets my worst record store vote but only because I was expecting it to be as good as Waterloo Records. Bit disappointing.

 

A huge portion of my collection has come from the Amoebas in Berkeley and San Francisco, so Amoeba is definitely up there. I've only been to the one in LA once, but walked out with a handful of cool stuff.

Monster Melodies in Paris, France, had what was probably the most astoundingly cool collection of used records I've ever seen at one time in a retail store, but their prices were obscenely, comically high. It was super fun to browse, but literally everything I saw that was of interest to me was double what you'd pay even on the internet. I guess you could say I love/hate them.

Data Records in Florence, Italy, had a wonderful collection to browse through in its dank back room, but the prices were on the high side (though not as absurd as Monster in Paris).

I had a great experience at Atomic Records in Burbank, CA, back in 2000. They had a pretty stellar collection, which got even better when my friends and I discovered they had a back room filled with boxes of even more LPs that we were free to browse. I've sadly never been back, so I don't know if they're still as good as they were on that day, but that one trip was certainly memorable.



As for most hated, I can think of a few candidates.

Record Man in Redwood City, CA, can be a frustrating experience. You can sometimes find some pretty sweet rarities there, but prices are generally through the roof, and none of the inventory is priced, so you don't know how much a record costs until you bring it up to the counter and they go online to see how much people are asking for it, and then add $5 or more on top of that price. As a result, I only go there once every few years, and I only buy something there that I seriously can't find anywhere else.

I kind of hated Recycled Records in San Francisco for a while due to a certain sociopathic employee that worked there, which I mentioned in some other thread.

Pretty much any Rasputin's other than the Berkeley store is super depressing these days. The one on Powell St. in downtown San Francisco is particularly bad.


(But even the Berkeley store can be frustrating at times. Their prices on used LPs tend to be anywhere from 25%-50% higher than the Berkeley Amoeba, and yet the condition is often worse. Many LPs there priced under $10 are in too shoddy condition to be worth it. They do seem to get a lot more used inventory in each week than the Berkeley Amoeba, but it can be kind of a quantity over quality situation.)

 

Favorite: Breakaway in Austin
Best city for record stores: Boston, Mass.

 

Quite a few that I like a lot.
Ones I don't like, Coconuts, Sam Goody, etc...

 

I'm fairly in love with my new (one-year-old) hometown record store, Block Street Records. Definitely doing things right.

 

Best: Second Coming NYC, Venus NYC, Zig Zag [when Phil owned it] Brooklyn, Infinity Massapequa, Music Antiquariat Prague, Record Connection Waterville Maine, Last Vestige Albany

Worst: Memory Lane on Grand Ave. in Baldwin. Freddie the owner was unbearable. Agents of Fortune Massapequa Park. Pretentious, obnoxious owner. Neil was his name if I recall.

 

Bleeker Bobs...dirty, overpriced...

 

Second Coming loved both stores on the same street...

 

back in the 70's Sam Goody had a great cut out section!

 

Best: Jerry's Used Records in Pittsburgh
Worst: Record Rama in Pittsburgh

-George

 

I'd like to give a shout-out to Dig! Music in Ukiah, CA. It's a small shop in a small town, but the owner (Mike) does what he can to help the local music scene. He has in-store concerts by local bands (free!) and supports the bigger concerts in the park that are held several times a year. I know it's hard being an owner of a small business these days, and I know he's paying the rent and his employees, but damn, he's pushing a big rock uphill. Lots of records, CDs (new and used), t-shirts, posters and lots of stuff hanging on the walls to look at. Record and CD players available so you can listen before you buy. When's the last time you were in a store that had that? Special orders are his forte, and prices are reasonable. Mike's a good guy. https://www.facebook.com/digmusicukiah

I also love Rasputin's in Stockton. Their .50 CDs are the bomb. Can't tell you how many rare discs I've found, including all 3 of the M.I.R.V. discs for fricking .50 cents each. http://www.amazon.com/Cosmodrome-Mirv/dp/B000004AVM You can return pretty much anything for credit on your next purchase. I can't tell you how many new (to me) artists I've been turned on to because I know if I don't like it, I'll have $$ towards the next buy. Several cute girls are working there, and I have a crush on each and every one of them. What's hotter than a record store girl, I ask ya?

Worst store in recent memory? Dimples in Elk Grove, CA. Used CDs are heinously overpriced and stale, and new discs are getting rare. Don't know who the buyer is for this place, but he/she is AWFUL. Seems like they are gravitating more towards games and DVDs, so they can kiss my $$ goodbye. I used to make the hour drive (one way) several times a month, but no longer. G'bye, Dimples. You suck.

 

My fave is probably End of an Ear in Austin, TX and the one that - well I wouldn't say 'hate', more I find it funny because the prices are hilarious - is that ridiculous Peaches in the French Quarter, NOLA.

My local shops in Houston - Cactus and Vinal (yes, 'vinal') Edge have provided much joy in the past but not recently as their prices have got silly.

Amoeba (any of them) I find frustrating because I assume they have all sorts of everything but they rarely have anything I want.

Others: the Jazz Record Center in NY is a very good shop. The Monkey Music Emporium in Brighton, England has an amazing (and expensive) range of rare krautrock vinyl. And Music Millennium in Portland, Oregon always has something for me.

I like this topic.

 

Existing stores...............
My favorite by far is Amoeba......mostly the San Francisco one. I spend a lot of money there........(and going to the Bay Area again for New Years week)
Music Millennium in Portland, OR is really good too.
Louisiana Music Factory in New Orleans
Locally - Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ

The past (RIP)...............
Second Coming, Venus, and Midnight Records in NYC. P
Pier Platters in Hoboken

Worst...........
Never really hated any, but usually never bough at Sam Goody, Record World etc. because of prices.

 

Oops! Forgot to mention the Last Record Store in Santa Rosa, CA. Good selection of CDs and records. Knowledgeable clerks, and they have many CDs you can rent for a couple of days for $3 each.

 

Main Street Music in Manayunk, Philadelphia, PA. Great staff, great inventory and some of the best in-store performances around.

Tell Pat that I sent you for a complimentary Rolling Rock

 

Do any New Yorkers remember this place: mid to late 80's on Hempstead Turnpike just West of Belmont Racetrack over the Queens border? Right hand side the place specialized in unusual/avant-garde music? There was a woman that worked there that had a Nico/Vampirella look goin' on. Real sweet gal. What was the name of that place?

 

For me, the worst is probably a local Half Price Books. I laughed out-loud at some of their pricing relative to condition.