I really miss the days of ‘brick and mortar’ record stores.
We have a couple record stores in my city. One is very far from me, and the other one is kinda, well run by a bunch of douches.
But Amazon has kinda taken a strong hold on the record market, which gives me mixed feelings.
On one hand I like being able to get rare records, but on the other hand I enjoy going to a physical record store and buying vinyl and looking through weird and obscure records.
Anyone else miss the days of physical stores and looking through merchandise before buying?
I miss the old stores that were packed to the ceiling with used books and records, old hardwood floors that squeaked as you walked around the store, the smell of old books and of course the prices
I really liked the Hastings format, but they went out of business. In case you don’t know, Hastings sold music, books, and movies. I also liked the huge bookstores like Barnes and Nobles. I looked at them as potential centers of culture, but most people aren’t into culture. It looks like Kindle is going to come to dominate the reading market. I do like being able to buy rare books off Amazon. I bought a book a guy on this site had written. I also bought Brian Bosworth’s book.
@TomCat Yeah, I imagine LA has a pretty big vinyl culture.
@Mountainman Ahhh yes! The creaky floors and smell of old books. These are also some of my favorite things about traditional stores.
@crimby We have Barnes here, too! I think they’re rad. They have a great selection of books, and a pretty cool vinyl shop too. I can’t believe I forgot about them.
I miss going to the store, but I’m also glad I can hide at home and not have to go out. I like the selection that online stores have to offer, and sometimes the prices are so much better.
However, you can’t try before you buy, you have to have a general idea of what you want before you start looking, and there is no physical interaction with others which is just sad. When I do want to go out, I don’t want to find that there is nowhere left to go out to.
I have a record player, but my vinyl collection is limited. I admittedly have a hard time telling the difference in sound unless a recording is pretty bad.
Rasputin records on Telegraph ave. In Berkley, Ca was a treat back in the eighties.
I’d pick out a stack of records going only by the artwook on the cover of the record.
Hours and glorious hours spent fingering all that vinyl, sigh…
I just used to enjoy getting out among physically present people at local record stores. One time, at a store 8 miles or so from me, I bought 2 albums by U.K., which I wouldn’t have heard of had it not been for yet another local record store owner. The first, self-titled U.K. CD featured John Wetton, Allan Holdsworth, Bill Bruford, and Eddie Jobson. But I’ll always remember where I bought my copies of these discs. That was in Feb 2002, only 2 mos after my mom passed.
Talking vintage. I used to but records at a store while my father was getting used tubes for radio + tv. They had a candy bar machine. I’d put a nickel in + get a peanut butter log -the only place in town in more ways than one.
I didn’t feel like I belonged in most record stores. The people who worked there had to be ‘cool’ ending every other sentence with “man:”
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