Record Stores in Cleveland?

Sounds like the Cleveland area has a lot to offer in used and new vinyl. Maybe I'll make another trip down there from Buffalo in the Spring.

Thanks for all the feedback! Cleveland Rocks!!

 

I bought a bunch of 45's from Blue Arrow last year . They have a great selection, I need a return trip.

The place I miss for 45's is Spin-More in Kent. Yes , we called it "Spend-More" for a reason, but I could usually find some great singles for a reasonable price , especially if I paid cash .

 

Phil and Dottie @ Spin-More ... if ever a crazier couple to sell records and if they (especially Dottie) could tell that you were really hungry for a certain record, they would always jack the price up. It was there that I learned how to play it "cool" and always wear my poker face! I do have to agree that before they went mostly E-Bay and before that young kid came in to run the place, they really did have a ton of great 45's! Hard to believe that it's now a "Jimmy John's" and every time that I'm in Kent, I always look in there in disbelief that, that crusty old record store is now where people are eating their subs and such.

 

phil at spin-more priced himself out of business.

a quick story:

i was there and saw a copy of the standells 'dirty water" LP on the wall. it was a stereo copy and the cover was not in good shape. phil had it priced at $35, but said i could have it for $30. well the next time i went i brought him a very nice copy of the exact same album, and the one on the wall was gone. he offered me $2 for mine in trade and told me that he was just "taking it off my hands" and would never probably never sell it.

I'm sure this happened to quite a few people there.

f**k phil to this day, never ever ever rip people off, it will kill your business, and i think that's what eventually did happen.

the same thing happened to scott at time traveler....he just got greedy. and as soon as he did his store went to hell.

i have never even gone to his new store in downtown akron, i refuse to patronize the guy.

 

I always liked Phil at Spin-More, but I think that he knew that I had his number, so he would treat me fairly. Now, Dottie on the other hand was ruthless and I always hated when she was there when I walked in. I shopped that store way back in the day when the loft above was still open and you could go up there to dig even deeper.

As for Scott and "Time Traveler", he created his own problems and I often look over at the empty parking lot there, while I'm driving by on my way over to Square Records in Highland Square. Back in the old days, my main reason to go "Time Traveler" was because he would always have the "import" CD's, which nobody else near me had, without driving way up to Westlake's "My Generation" or all the way down to Columbus' "CD Jungle" on Morse Road, both now sadly long gone.

 

Went to The Exchange - 5 Cleveland locations plus one in Erie, PA (total random luck when stopping) also. Great store for used CDs. Unfortunately, the discs are locked up behind glass, but not behind a counter. However, every person I dealt with at every store was great and patient and willing to let you look vs. buy it on the spot. Their people are obviously trained well and very pleasant. The selection is some of the largest used CDs I have ever seen. Got a pile of CDs.

 

Any vinyl?

 

yes, some new, lots of used, i've been told they do not sell very much of the new at all. mostly the cheap, $1 or less, used goes out more frequently.

 

After an appointment this afternoon I decided to stop by the Record Den for the first time in a long while and check out the jazz vinyl. The only jazz I found was in three boxes in the back, which was mostly Chuck Mangione and Spyro Gyra. I did manage to find a Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, a couple Brecker Brothers and a Weather Report, though. Around $2 each.

 

Some, mostly new, but it is really a CD/game/DVD & Blu-Ray used store. New release discs are labeled and are plentiful, but the focus is on used. If you want used LPs, I would recommend a trip down here to Ithaca, NY's Commons and go to Angry Mom Records in the basement of a book store. Great place, mostly a used LP shop with quite a few used CDs. Great shop. Lots of records. Another place to stop on the way down is in Geneva, NY (top of Seneca Lake) at Area Records - mainly CDs, but it is an old style record store run by some enthusiastic old school music fans. They have LPs also.

 

if you talk these guys who own the record stores they are not selling much vinyl at all.

i talked to the owner of dr. disc in windsor ontario and he doesn't sell much at there either.

every single store i have been in in northeast ohio i have been told the same exact thing.....we sell $1 vinyl, and not a lot of it.

 

If you have a list, the patience and don't mind some occasional thrash metal music screaming in your ear, "The Exchange" can be a decent place to buy used. With that said, I really hate, HATE, the way the staff stand over your shoulder, watching you like a hawk, while doing what I often do there, which is to pull a certain CD out, just to see "which" pressing it is, as you can't always tell by the spine. I shop those stores often enough that they should know me by now and have a little trust in me! For the record, JOHN (The owner of these stores), nobody is going to steal "Neil Diamond's 12 Greatest Hits" on CD, those characters are on the complete other side of the store, ready to scarf some stupid "Playstation" game. I used to sell my stuff to them, but not anymore, as they will rip me off and all I end up with is endless cards of credit.