Recognize any of these?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/m...ord-stores

this is so sad... yes i do recognize a few... i didn't know virgin megastore (in NYC) closed... nor did i know dance tracks closed!!! AND vinyl mania??!! the last time i was in NY (2005), it was open!!!

i'm also familiar with the cellophane square in seattle.

well, hopefully amoeba will never close...

Harlepolis said:

Recognize any of these?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/m...ord-stores

Truly heartbreaking.

Arons Records in LA totally tragic and truly heartbreaking. I scored the most AMAZING finds there.

Amoeba is a fantastic place but I do miss Arons like an MF.

academy records and other music are still open... AND BLEEKER BOB'S! HA!

Truth: Its sad but most of it is their own damn fault.

jeidee said:

Truth: Its sad but most of it is their own damn fault.

Tower, maybe. The others were casualties of big stores like Amoeba moving in to take the place of the big record stores.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Harlepolis said:

Recognize any of these?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/m...ord-stores

Truly heartbreaking.

Arons Records in LA totally tragic and truly heartbreaking. I scored the most AMAZING finds there.

Amoeba is a fantastic place but I do miss Arons like an MF.

I loved Arons on Highland as well. The irony is it closed after Amoeba in Hollywood opened its doors. All their business went there.

runphilrun said:

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Truly heartbreaking.

Arons Records in LA totally tragic and truly heartbreaking. I scored the most AMAZING finds there.

Amoeba is a fantastic place but I do miss Arons like an MF.

I loved Arons on Highland as well. The irony is it closed after Amoeba in Hollywood opened its doors. All their business went there.

I patronized Arons to the bitter end. I only ever went to Amoeba after they closed

MJJstudent said:

this is so sad... yes i do recognize a few... i didn't know virgin megastore (in NYC) closed... nor did i know dance tracks closed!!! AND vinyl mania??!! the last time i was in NY (2005), it was open!!!

i'm also familiar with the cellophane square in seattle.

well, hopefully amoeba will never close...

Dude im glad U posted this thread because the NYC stores are in BIG danger more than ever, and "record store" day once a year aint gonna save them, its very sad but great shops like "Record Runner", "Rebel Rebel" and "Other Music" are all hanging by threads basically and thats straight from 2 of the 3 owners of the shops, though on occasion there is light, its almost not worth it anymore.

jeidee said:

Truth: Its sad but most of it is their own damn fault.

sorry but its business and its GOT NOTHING to do with the stores, especially in NYC, its got to do with costs, rents, tourism, wholesale prices from labels which NEVER dropped, they have risen since the first day of the cd, they now stand at 13.58 per cd, now ask how can a tower records or anyone for that matter who only sells music stay open when they have to compete and sell a cd 3-4 dollars below what they paid and then pay employees, rent , and other bills for property. The blame is at the labels door, 100%, and honestly the consumer now has the lack of selection it wanted all along, by letting Best Buy and Target under cut pricing and jacking up other things they sold, now lo and behold where those vendors are the only things left, look at first day prices of releases in Best Buy....most are 13.99, why, they cant lose that money anymore.

There was a mom and pops record shop in Houston called Top Hits. I used to by all my Michael Jackson and J5 material there. I roded by there maybe two years ago and it was gone. The last thing I got was Skywriter/Get It Together 2fer in like 2007.

wow... record runner is still open too? do you know if chris is still at other music?

lastdecember said:

MJJstudent said:

this is so sad... yes i do recognize a few... i didn't know virgin megastore (in NYC) closed... nor did i know dance tracks closed!!! AND vinyl mania??!! the last time i was in NY (2005), it was open!!!

i'm also familiar with the cellophane square in seattle.

well, hopefully amoeba will never close...

Dude im glad U posted this thread because the NYC stores are in BIG danger more than ever, and "record store" day once a year aint gonna save them, its very sad but great shops like "Record Runner", "Rebel Rebel" and "Other Music" are all hanging by threads basically and thats straight from 2 of the 3 owners of the shops, though on occasion there is light, its almost not worth it anymore.

MJJstudent said:

wow... record runner is still open too? do you know if chris is still at other music?

lastdecember said:

Dude im glad U posted this thread because the NYC stores are in BIG danger more than ever, and "record store" day once a year aint gonna save them, its very sad but great shops like "Record Runner", "Rebel Rebel" and "Other Music" are all hanging by threads basically and thats straight from 2 of the 3 owners of the shops, though on occasion there is light, its almost not worth it anymore.

not sure i dont check Other Music too often, but yeah Record RUnner is still there, but, lots of their business now is online purchases and its all built on the loyal shoppers that have always been there for that store, but as the owner told me, how long can u hang on that, plus they have everything at this point.

This one hurt me most. It was a downtown Toronto icon from 1961 to 2007. Those huge neon turntables lit up the entire block for decades, and fortunately they are immortalized in nighttime shots of many movies filmed here.

A gigantic HMV just one block south replaced Sam a few months after it closed. Turns out now, though, HMV Group is ailing and looking to sell off its 123 Canadian locations.

Lammastide said:

This one hurt me most. It was a downtown Toronto icon from 1961 to 2007. Those huge neon turntables lit up the entire block for decades, and fortunately they are immortalized in nighttime shots of many movies filmed here.

A gigantic HMV just one block south replaced Sam a few months after it closed. Turns out now, though, HMV Group is ailing and looking to sell off its 123 Canadian locations.

That one hit me in the chest. I didn't know they closed prior to seeing this link.

Some of the BEST records I bought were from that store, rare records in mint condition and great prices.

This is devastating to see, mostly because a heap load of people lost a steady income and what I could imagine, something they emotionally invested in.

Crazy times indeed.

Just behind the silver Jeep below is the tiny former location of the Record Exchange in my hometown of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. From 1978 to 2009 it had been arguable one of the two best wrecka stows in Cleveland (the other being Record Revolution, pictured at bottom). Both stores were icons in Cleveland Heights' Coventry Village, sort of our answer to New York's Greenwich Village or San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district.

Record Revolution was the sexier of the two stores. It brought the bling and it had the T-shirts, posters, bongs , etc. But Record Exchange, becuase its business was strictly music, had one of the deepest catalogs and one of the most knowledgable staffs of antisocial music geeks I've ever seen. It was my first ever job back in high school, and I learned sooo much there. (Incidentally, they all hated Prince. )

Record Exchange's stock became so overflowing with trades and obscure titles that we opened a jazz/classical/soundtracks annex in 1988. It was heralded as the best store of its class between New York and Chicago until a fire gutted the place in 1991. All of Coventry Village was in tears.

The original Record Exchange actually still sorta operates, but it's now known as merely The Exchange and deals about 85% in video games. Our old competitor Record Revolution is still in business, too, but only at about 1/3 of the size pictured below, and they deal only in T-shirts and retro vinyl.

[Edited 4/25/11 21:29pm]

For those who claim they don't hurt anybody by illegally downloading music

Harlepolis said:

Lammastide said:

This one hurt me most. It was a downtown Toronto icon from 1961 to 2007. Those huge neon turntables lit up the entire block for decades, and fortunately they are immortalized in nighttime shots of many movies filmed here.

A gigantic HMV just one block south replaced Sam a few months after it closed. Turns out now, though, HMV Group is ailing and looking to sell off its 123 Canadian locations.

That one hit me in the chest. I didn't know they closed prior to seeing this link.

Some of the BEST records I bought were from that store, rare records in mint condition and great prices.

This is devastating to see, mostly because a heap load of people lost a steady income and what I could imagine, something they emotionally invested in.

Crazy times indeed.

That closure was sad on many fronts. After my family first moved to Toronto, I recall occasionally cutting class and hanging out browsing Sam for entire afternoons whenever I felt depressed, tired, fed up, etc. (Don't tell my wife and kid. ) After a Facebook group of 18,000 people petitioned to save those neon turntables, the entire building was named an Ontario Heritage Site. A nearby university bought the site, and they have been allowed to raze the building () ...BUT provided they somehow reinstall those signs somewhere in their design. ( ) I don't know for how many more years I'll be in Toronto, but I can't wait to see what the university ends up doing. I hope they really do honor the arrangement.

[Edited 4/25/11 21:38pm]

PANDURITO said:

For those who claim they don't hurt anybody by illegally downloading music

not just the illegal, I'd argue this is even more due to legal downloads

fuck harddiscs and an iTunes I need to have a physical medium

MJJstudent said:

this is so sad... yes i do recognize a few... i didn't know virgin megastore (in NYC) closed... nor did i know dance tracks closed!!! AND vinyl mania??!! the last time i was in NY (2005), it was open!!!

i'm also familiar with the cellophane square in seattle.

well, hopefully amoeba will never close...

I was sad when they got rid of the bowling alley...

purplethunder3121 said:

I was sad when they got rid of the bowling alley...

For those who claim they don't hurt anybody by illegally bowling

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

runphilrun said:

I loved Arons on Highland as well. The irony is it closed after Amoeba in Hollywood opened its doors. All their business went there.

I patronized Arons to the bitter end. I only ever went to Amoeba after they closed

During the 80s I'd take a bus from the south bay to points north, Downtown L.A where a record store on Broadway used to sell alot 12 in Dance Singles (I knew the employee). Then maybe onto Hollwood blvd, Melrose blvd, or even all the way to Westwood to go to Rhino Records, to find some Punk & New Wave vynl . All of these stores are long gone. To and from would take all day long, but it was worth the trip. The adventure of discovering new music in the racks is becoming rare these days.

MJJstudent said:

this is so sad... yes i do recognize a few... i didn't know virgin megastore (in NYC) closed... nor did i know dance tracks closed!!! AND vinyl mania??!! the last time i was in NY (2005), it was open!!!

i'm also familiar with the cellophane square in seattle.

well, hopefully amoeba will never close...

If Amoeba ever closes, I will throw the biggest bitchfit in the world

I LOVE that place. Northern CA still has Amoeba, Rasputin (which is right next to Amoeba in Berkeley) Dimples (in the Sacramento area) and a couple of other indie places

Dancelot said:

PANDURITO said:

For those who claim they don't hurt anybody by illegally downloading music

not just the illegal, I'd argue this is even more due to legal downloads

fuck harddiscs and an iTunes I need to have a physical medium

...and the smell of a record shop

Yes, the SMELL. the scent of old records, tapes, and album covers.....

purplethunder3121 said:

MJJstudent said:

this is so sad... yes i do recognize a few... i didn't know virgin megastore (in NYC) closed... nor did i know dance tracks closed!!! AND vinyl mania??!! the last time i was in NY (2005), it was open!!!

i'm also familiar with the cellophane square in seattle.

well, hopefully amoeba will never close...

I was sad when they got rid of the bowling alley...

which locations have you been to? I've only been to the ones in Berkeley and San Francisco

absolute HEAVEN

bboy87 said:

purplethunder3121 said:

I was sad when they got rid of the bowling alley...

which locations have you been to? I've only been to the ones in Berkeley and San Francisco

absolute HEAVEN

The bowling alley I was refering to was in San Francisco before Amoeba. You can still see the bowling alley sign above the Amoeba sign in the pic above^^^ I've been to the stores in SF and Berkeley, and then last year went to the one in LA for the first time. I've spent lots of happy hours at Amoeba!

purplethunder3121 said:

bboy87 said:

which locations have you been to? I've only been to the ones in Berkeley and San Francisco

absolute HEAVEN

The bowling alley I was refering to was in San Francisco before Amoeba. You can still see the bowling alley sign above the Amoeba sign in the pic above^^^ I've been to the stores in SF and Berkeley, and then last year went to the one in LA for the first time. I've spent lots of happy hours at Amoeba!

Ahh I wasn't sure at first All I know is I saw the sign and everything else surrounding was suddenly gone That's how serious it was for me to go

You wouldn't believe how much time I used to spend in Amoeba and Rasputin. I would spend hours just shifting through the vinyl aisles. I even tried (numerous times) to get a job at both. When I lived in the Bay Area, I NEVER bought CDs, DVDs, and vinyl from big chains like Best Buy, Target, Wal Mart, or whatever unless I had to because Rasputin and Amoeba were gonna have everything I wanted and for way better prices. Rasputin and Amoeba are ALWAYS packed I'm visiting the LA location hopefully this summer

Lammastide said:

Just behind the silver Jeep below is the tiny former location of the Record Exchange in my hometown of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. From 1978 to 2009 it had been arguable one of the two best wrecka stows in Cleveland (the other being Record Revolution, pictured at bottom). Both stores were icons in Cleveland Heights' Coventry Village, sort of our answer to New York's Greenwich Village or San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district.

Record Revolution was the sexier of the two stores. It brought the bling and it had the T-shirts, posters, bongs , etc. But Record Exchange, becuase its business was strictly music, had one of the deepest catalogs and one of the most knowledgable staffs of antisocial music geeks I've ever seen. It was my first ever job back in high school, and I learned sooo much there. (Incidentally, they all hated Prince. )

Record Exchange's stock became so overflowing with trades and obscure titles that we opened a jazz/classical/soundtracks annex in 1988. It was heralded as the best store of its class between New York and Chicago until a fire gutted the place in 1991. All of Coventry Village was in tears.

The original Record Exchange actually still sorta operates, but it's now known as merely The Exchange and deals about 85% in video games. Our old competitor Record Revolution is still in business, too, but only at about 1/3 of the size pictured below, and they deal only in T-shirts and retro vinyl.

[Edited 4/25/11 21:29pm]

I miss the record exchange, they're closing them down left and right, I think there are only 2 left, there were like 6 or 7.

bboy87 said:

Yes, the SMELL. the scent of old records, tapes, and album covers.....

YES YES YES!!!

bboy87 said:

purplethunder3121 said:

I was sad when they got rid of the bowling alley...

which locations have you been to? I've only been to the ones in Berkeley and San Francisco

absolute HEAVEN

i've only been to the one in san francisco... interestingly enough, when i posted these pictures i didn't realize the girl was holding a THRILLER album, until just now... that picture subconsciously spoke to me. HA! the people at amoeba are really nice...