Record Stores

it's crazy, the only places I can buy music in my town are target, best buy and walmart.

Used to drop by Discovery a lot when I lived in the east end - now it's a bit of a hike so I rarely go, but if I'm looking for something specific on vinyl it's nice to know you can see if he has it on the website. Going into the store itself can be a bit intimidating for the casual music fan, though...if you're not a huge fanatic, especially about vinyl, I get the feeling that the owner might come off as a bit condescending sometimes...just because he's really into what he's doing, I'm guessing. (He's also got a nice stash of 78s in the back room, if you've got a couple hours to go through them.)

I went to this place http://www.plattfon.ch/about/ on Saturday. It's charming, well-stocked and seems to be thriving. Just want to pass on some good news.

sad about ear x-tacy. since my sister moved to louisville, i probably bought 100+ records there, from right at the beginning of my music-buying life (6th or 7th grade); till the last time i made it down that ways a year-plus ago (got a steal on the used Loren Connors 2CD As Roses Bow). though i agree their collection had gone downhill in recent years, my tastes had also gotten more esoteric. always had a pleasant time while i was there though...stacking shitty used CDs and figuring out which combination i could afford.

News like this makes me glad my local stores are still doing OK. There are four of them in a town of 150,000 (we used to have seven). One sells a LOT of games and DVDs to get by. One still focuses on CDs, I can't really imagine how they will continue. They added vinyl a few years back but it is completely picked over now. One is a small specialty store (with tons of decent-to-good vinyl and CDs) that depends heavily on cigarette income. The other is the venerable H0use Of Rec0rds, still going strong after who knows how many years (35?). They are continually reclaiming CD shelf space in order to stock more vinyl, new and used. They say business is fine, so I hope they'll be here for at least another decade before the data cloud takes over our brains.

(xposts) I dropped into Discovery once or twice many years ago--didn't realize it was still around. (I don't venture east much anymore.) I don't know if this is a fair statement or not, but my recollection is that it was a little on the pricy side. Do you guys remember Open City on the Danforth? That was the only store east of Yonge I ever regulary trekked out to; I thought their prices were really good, I almost always came away with a few albums.

I took some photos a few years ago for my site of all the locations where my favourite Toronto record stores once were (or, in a couple of instances, still are--Sam's, of course, has since vacated).

http://phildellio.tripod.com/records-stores.html

My fave record store in Berlin, Dense, closed last week: http://www.dense-shop.de/2011-10-17-dense-is-closing-goodbye-and-thank-you/

Haha, I didn't realize you were Clemenza, Phil - have seen your writing about!

I definitely remember Open City - he always seemed to get a bunch of good recent releases in his CD stacks at the counter, probably castoffs from a reviewer. Also had a great basement of discounted items and I almost always found something good to leave with. It was a sad day when he decided to pack it in because his prices were definitely more reasonable than Discovery and it was a lot closer than the Books Plus at Main or the downtown stores!

Also just learned Monster records on Yonge near Wellesley closed down earlier in the year...guess he went back into artist management. Oh well.

Another one bites the dust, at least in its current location.
http://www.thevillager.com/?p=2018
http://blackfridaymagazine.com/new-york-city-music-scene-loses-another/01627

Not to kick them while they're down, but I kinda thought lots of records at Bleeker Bob's were overpriced back in the '80s...wonder what they are charging now

A bit expensive the last time I was there (~2009) but not insultingly so.

So apparently Rough Trade is opening in Williamsburg...

Rough Trade East (London) was busy selling more coffee than anything else when I was in there Sunday. It's so expensive I'm not surprised.

http://www.wwaytv3.com/2013/11/14/record-shop-owner-accused-of-hiding-cameras-restroom

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_25746768/record-store-robbery-suspect-who-held-denver-police

record stores, never more relevant

Two best record stores in Denver are on E. Colfax. What was that guy doing on Colorado?

Stopped at Stinkweeds in Phoenix last week and am happy that it's still going strong: http://www.stinkweeds.com

The store I work in LUNA Music (as weekend guy) just celebrated our 20th birthday. Stop in if yr passing through Indianapolis: http://www.lunamusic.net/

I might be a little biased, but I think it's a pretty sweet spot.

some guy came in and this is what he said:

"do you buy records? or is this it?"

what does that mean?

i found myself explaining what a store was to him. and i felt silly.

http://eil.com/images/main/Peggy-Lee-Is-That-All-There-619526.jpg

i think sometimes people get confused and think that they have stumbled into my living room.

"You've got quite the collection. How long did it take you to amass all this?"

uhhhhhhh....

it would be like going into an antiques store and saying: man, you sure do have a lot of chairs! how long did it take you to find all these chairs?

best description of a VG+ cover ever:

Media Condition: Very Good Plus (VG+)
Sleeve Condition: Very Good Plus (VG+)
LP in good shape, a few faint paper scuffs and fingerprints on each side, no playback issues. W/Takoma Records inner. Sleeve has edgewear, corner wear, light ringwear, light scuffing, woc (rear).

ALSO WE POOPED ON IT.

M - there are no mint records
NM - sealed
VG+ - opened, handled, maybe played once
VG - played, has surface noise and pops etc
G - has a shit load of surface noise and pops etc
F - we pooped on it

uk goldmine grading seems more useful/meaningful to me

i don't even wanna fucking deal with selling VG or lower on discogs, the spectrum of buyer expectations is just too wide

ymmv

obviously it's totally different for a store, where you don't really have time to play-test everything

i do VG covers all the time if the record is REALLY clean and its something that people really want. i mean most old records have VG covers.

you can't have WRITING on a cover and call it VG+. i mean you can't.

yup, that is a VG- cover specifically cuz of the writing imo

i put a record up on discogs today for 60 bucks. the median price is about 60 and there was only one other copy for sale on discogs right now. their price? 400 dollars. i sold my copy in about 2 hours. sometimes i don't get what people are up to...

https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=N2KyxS3XojYIzP_gzTgt_Q

First thing I'd like to say Is that that owner didn't say hello, or even acknowledge my presence the ten minutes I was in his shop. Instantly put a bad taste in my mouth. Not that I needed help, but damn, I'm sure people aren't beating down his door with business. Records in my opinion were quite over priced. Selection was pretty bad too , a few thousand random rock records.. small jazz and classical section... I hit A, B, C & M and was over it by then. Unless you're going to Greenfield anyway, I would save your gas.

https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/15578430_10157932861345298_8076768788314792337_n.jpg?oh=dc69c1f96651af5348970b7921be0aa2&oe=58F69830

graphic courtesy of my brother via facebook.

lol

I prefer to be ignored by the shopkeeper unless I need help

i'm fine with a "let me know if i can help you find anything" when i enter

i used to work at a record store, one of the cd/game exchange (formerly called record exchange) stores in the DC area and it was store policy to ask to hold all bags behind the counter. i fucking hated that so much. the cds and games were locked behind cabinets anyways, why the fuck do i need your bag too?

sometimes i don't feel like yelling hello. i'm really far away from the front door. sometimes i will. but usually i wait until people come closer and i make eye contact and say hi.

https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/1915662_10153627195753802_5667831438800049308_n.jpg?oh=97556f092942af6786cc897d3ed6315c&oe=58EEFC57

sometimes i just wave.

yea im also fine with being ignored

I usually think "the owner of this store does not need another friend" and decline to engage until I purchases I'd like to make.

*have purchases

scott do people ever ask "what's new? / what's good / what should i buy?"

sometimes people ask me about things that they see. i could definitely, uh, "upsell" more if i wanted to. people love to be told what to buy. people totally buy things where i write on the plastic sleeve "Great!" and "Stoner classic!" and stuff like that. i could do that more too.

the people who buy the most never ask me anything though. i definitely cater to people who enjoy volume shopping. finicky people are not my fave customers. though i try to be nice to everyone.

what do you mean by finicky people?

Yeah I have def been swung by a store-scribbled label. Not to buy sth totally cold but maybe if I was kinda curious or on the fence already. Even stuff like ''beat but plays!'' has had an effect on me.