Brick & Mortar Record/Music Stores

[jlneudorf]

HMV bought the Fopp name and about 7 or so of the stores. The rest closed down. Fopp screwed up when they bought Music Zone (Another chain.) out of administration, which had previously bought MVC.

Still quite a few HMV left in Canada although who knows how much longer they will last.

Regards,
Jon

[jlneudorf]

[QUOTE=Esoteric;116008]

I happy that there are no lack of B & M record stores in the Los Angeles area. I shop at them quite often.

The most obvious is Amoeba Music . Anyone that has ever been to the Hollywood branch, knows how huge the store is. The selection of both used CD's and vinyl is extensive, to say the least. I love their classical section, especially the avant-garde area.

Christ--I couldnt get Mark out of there--I had to go for a pee across the road at the fast food place-I think he was in for 3 hours!!

Whenever I am fortunate enough to visit an Amoeba store it is no shorter than a 4 hour visit. That's why my wife never goes with me

Regards,
Jon

[jlneudorf]

The most obvious is Amoeba Music . Anyone that has ever been to the Hollywood branch, knows how huge the store is. The selection of both used CD's and vinyl is extensive, to say the least. I love their classical section, especially the avant-garde area.

Christ--I couldnt get Mark out of there--I had to go for a pee across the road at the fast food place-I think he was in for 3 hours!!

Whenever I am fortunate enough to visit an Amoeba store it is a minimum 4 hour visit. That's why my wife never comes with me.

Regards,
Jon

[hippypants]

I might mention the Austin Tx Record Convention too. It's generally held twice a year, but they canceled last spring for some reason. They plan on having one this fall, however, in October. I have some friends that try and go all the time when possible. I've been planning to attend at least one of these just to see what it's like, but as of yet, haven't found the time. Here's a link though: http://www.austinrecords.com/

[Fracktured]

I recently spent two weeks in Amsterdam. Didn't see a single used vinyl store.

But I wasn't really looking.

Well then it really doesn't count does it?

[Yodelgoat]

There is a place here in Fort Worth, about 10 miles from my house, that I was totally blown away by - I don't recall the name now, but I found it by accident, walked in and it was huge! - probably 50 feet by 100 feet, loaded from top to bottom with LP's CD's and even cassettes. I felt like it was 1988 again. Because I wasn't there by plan, I haven't gone back yet, but I'll go find it and report back its name. Its totally out of character for the area, and it was fairly busy, so I'm guessing people who like Vinyl know about it. They said they would carry my CD since I'm a local artist and they said they have a good number of people who collect local artists - They also said they would help me price some Beatle albums I've been sitting on from the 1960's first pressings - imports from UK - My mom remarried into them and gave them to me. Anyway, time for a short road trip. I too miss the lure of the local store. Best buy is a joke.

[mnprogger]

I wrote something about most of the B&M type stores in Minnesota recently:
http://allmediareviews.blogspot.com/...-part-one.html

[walt]

Every time I read about Amoeba Music I start drooling.It sounds like the kind of record store we used to have in NYC,but don't have anymore.I'm almost tempted to find an excuse to fly out to the left coast(Bay area) so I can spend time rifling the bins there.

[wideopenears]

Amoeba is actually BIGGER than any of the record stores I spent time in, back in NYC.
I've been to the LA store, and I frequent the SF and Berkeley joints, as well.

I used to love going to Tower in NYC back in the 80's, I recall when CD's first hit, it was fun to pick up a bunch of Jazz....and there were a bunch of other, smaller places I frequented, too.....can't recall the names, but I'd bet they're gone. Sad....

[beano]

Here are some VERY GOOD stores in various towns on Long Island, NY..
Looney Tunes - West Babylon, NY http://ltcds.com/
Mr. Cheapo Records - Commack, NY + Mineola , NY http://www.mrcheapocds.com/
High Fidelity - Amityville, NY http://www.highfidelitycds.com/
Record Reserve - East Northport, NY http://recordreserve.com/
Infinity Records - Massapequa Park , NY
Record Stop - Shirley , NY https://www.facebook.com/RECORDSTOP

[BrianG]

They are right about Amoeba. I spent about three hours at the Hollywood store, cut short only when I had to meet my daughter. Then, three days later I stayed in Berkeley next to their store on Telegraph Ave. Thank god I didn't find it until I had to go or I would have missed my plane.
I like to stop in on local brick and mortar stores wherever I travel. Atlantic Sounds in Daytona Beach has a good CD selection and a lot of (very) old vinyl. Rock n Roll Heaven in Orlando had lots of vinyl but a sad CD section, where Park Avenue CD's had much more variety and a nice progressive music section. Zen Records in Las Vegas has a great CD selection including lots of new music, plus videos, toys and games. There are still great stores in Philly (AKA) and New York, but new vinyl is now king since the they can get up to $24 per record.

[strawberrybrick]

Chicago has Reckless Records. The best in the city. It's got two "real" stores, on Broadway in Lakeview and the other on Milwaukee in Wicker Park, but also two more smaller stores, downtown and another they just bought in Forest Park.
Dusty Groove on Ashland in Wicker Park has a great selection of jazz/soul, but also a nice little rock section with all the new Esoteric releases as they come out.
Permanent Records on Chicago (also Wicker Park) is a fav with the hipsters, but I wasn't that impressed with it.
Dave's Records (vinyl only) on Broadway in Lakeview still survives, but be sure to stop by Wiener Circle which is right around the bend.
Vintage Vinyl in Evanston is what it is. I think there's still a Second Hand Tunes in Evanston as well. Oak Park may have one too.
Reggies Rock Club has a shop on the second floor....

The rest? Not much to write about Most record stores have become "shops/lifestyle shops", selling movies, t-shirts, books, all sorts of brick-a-brack. Very few move stock like the ones listed above, so if I go, it's not very often as nothing really changes. Retail is fading fast.

Christ--I couldnt get Mark out of there--I had to go for a pee across the road at the fast food place-I think he was in for 3 hours!!

My wife and I once spent an _entire day_ at the two Amoeba's, when she lived in SF!