Anyone remember record shops back in the day!

[TimB]

I remeber way back when record stores were all independant affais. Sears and Penneys always had a real small rack of records, as did the old dime stores. But real record selection was at the dedicated record stores. In the closest town that had them, there were several of them. Some specialized in Classical, others Jazz, and one for pop rock, although all of them carried cross over selections. Some of them had playing booths were you could audition the newest releases. The pop store always had a lot of 45 records, usually the current top 100 and a small section for oldies ( I think they just pulled out records that did not sell from previous years). And I remeber when it all changed, and a record store opened in the new shopping mall, the writting was on the walls and with in a few years all the indies were gone. I missed the personal service and the slection, and the willingness for them to order an obscure or older titile for you.

[bodine]

Woolworth's also was known for having big bins full of 45s that had been big hits several months earlier, and were packaged in bags of 6 or 12 for a reduced price. Got a lot of my 45s this way--Dylan, Byrds, Supremes, Temptations, the Who on Decca, all sorts of obscure soul stuff...


And on the east coast, there was the original Sam Goody's, which was only place you could get hard-to-find LPs like Robert Johnson's King of Delta Blues and the seminal Columbia Duke Ellington box sets

[ParloFax]

Are you kidding? I can almost still smell them places from way back!

The local Woolworth's (an English based department store) wasn't so badly stocked at all.

But the shock for me was to first visit a real, dedicated store, back in 1970, that was held by a totally un-hip old man that looked like the sad courrier in Magical Mistery Tour... Still he had ALL those completely weird looking Apple and Zapple Beatles and solo records, which I had never seen before... I probably had never even seen anything surrealistic to begin with...

There was no going back...

[ParloFax]

Originally Posted by bodine

Woolworth's also was known for having big bins full of 45s that had been big hits several months earlier, and were packaged in bags of 6 or 12 for a reduced price. Got a lot of my 45s this way--Dylan, Byrds, Supremes, Temptations, the Who on Decca, all sorts of obscure soul stuff...


And on the east coast, there was the original Sam Goody's, which was only place you could get hard-to-find LPs like Robert Johnson's King of Delta Blues and the seminal Columbia Duke Ellington box sets

Is our near simultaneous posting re. Woolworth's telepathic or what!?

I was sure only Canada had Woolworth's this side of the pond...

[GregK]

Originally Posted by bodine

Woolworth's also was known for having big bins full of 45s that had been big hits several months earlier, and were packaged in bags of 6 or 12 for a reduced price. Got a lot of my 45s this way--Dylan, Byrds, Supremes, Temptations, the Who on Decca, all sorts of obscure soul stuff...

Woolworths was in the USA? I thought it was a British (and, thusly, Canadian) thing, like Marks and Spencer.

[Jay F]

Woolworth's had stores all over New Jersey. And there was the Woolworth building in downtown New York, which was the tallest building in either the U.S. or the world for some time. I had no idea Woolworth's was anything other than a U.S. thing. Ours had but a paltry selection of records. The sealed 45s were their biggest offering.

We had two independent record stores in my town, plus a Korvette's "on the highway" (Rt. 22).

[mrt2]

Originally Posted by ParloFax

The local Woolworth's (an English based department store) wasn't so badly stocked at all.

...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._Woolworth_Company

Woolworth's was an American department store.

[Colocally]

How strange that people would be surprised about Woolworths being in the USA. Frank Woolworth started in New York.

In my town, we had two independent record shops.
One was called Christophers and was an old style music shop, selling not only records but music scores,musical instruments, and strings etc. This shop finally closed down at the end of the 90s.
The other was called Records and Tapes and was in the centre of town, this one just sold what it said on the sign, and used to have a lot of imports as well as UK releases. In the early 80s they still had loads of Capitol Beatles albums there. They shut in 1984, although the owner did start up again a couple of years later but quickly closed again.
Apart from these two, the other main record shop was Woolworths which stocked all the chart stuff and also had a lot of back catalogue too.

A lot of small grocery shops also used to have a box of ex-chart singles for about half price on their counters, I used to love flicking through looking for bargains.

We also had two second hand stores down the west end, near Christophers which were a good place to pick up old records and sell things that we no longer wanted.

Now, the only shops that sell music in my town are the big supermarkets, with just the top 40 cds, plus a section of older stuff, usually budget issues.

So for me, if I want anything, it is either buy online, or go to Cardiff.

[bluesaddict]

We had Independent records in Denver and Rocky Mountain records and tapes was the place to go to in Boulder when we moved there. We also had Records on the Hill in Boulder and it’s still open. I was just thirteen when Pink Floyd’s DSOTM came out and remember going to Independent Records to buy it. I still have that copy (wly in the dead wax) but it’s not in the best of shape. I just picked up a few Julie London albums and love the way the smell. Sure dose take you back.

[Ikabob]

Yes, I remember the record shops well. I hung out at Discount Records on Wisconsin Avenue, in good ole Milwaukee, many Sunday mornings when I bought my 1st stereo system after college (finally had the mooolahroooshki). Great system by the way....Marantz tuner,Marantz Preamp, SAE amplifier,Dual turntable,Advent speakers. Remember those names?
Also, my friends and I would go up to Peaches Records many an evening in Columbus and pick the brain of the expert salesman about the best recordings for classical music.

[Thrillington]

Originally Posted by mrt2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._Woolworth_Company

Woolworth's was an American department store.

A different Woolworth's to the UK one we are on about, I believe.

[Colocally]

Originally Posted by Thrillington

A different Woolworth's to the UK one we are on about, I believe.

No, same company, but they disappeared in the US long before the UK.

[Uncle Al]

I saw a Woolworths in Scotland about 2 years ago. I guess they're still kicking...

I had lots of indie record stores near me. It's where I bought a lot of my records; but the majority came from deparment stores like Mays, Gertz, Alexanders (all gone now). You could always get the current releases for $3.99 on sale in the department stores.

[Colocally]

Woolworths went bust last Christmas in the UK. They were also one of the biggest distributors of music and video in the UK, and went they went down, they took down Zavvi (formerly Virgin Megastores) with them.

[flashdaily]

In Seattle in the mid 1970's, the place to shop for records was an area informally dubbed the University District, or the "U-District", the area surrounding the University of Washington campus. On a street dubbed "the Ave", there were independent record stores galore. That was where I first discovered, around 1973, that you could still buy the UK imports of the original Capitol Beach Boys albums, which had been deleted in 1969. There were some chains then but they didn't threaten those indies until a big one called "Peaches" (now long gone) came along in the early eighties. Then, Tower Records moved in and took over the scene for a number of years, and of course they too are now gone. Pretty much all that's left in the Seattle area for a decent brick and mortar place is Silver Platters, but even they have closed some locations in recent years.

[Soundman]

There use to be a Woolworths on Powell and Market Street, San Francisco.

[action pact]

Originally Posted by Soundman

There use to be a Woolworths on Powell and Market Street, San Francisco.

It was the largest Woolworth's in the world, too, IIRC. I think it was three floors, including the basement. When I moved to San Francisco in 1988, I bought all of my dishes and silverware there.

Originally Posted by Ikabob

Also, my friends and I would go up to Peaches Records many an evening in Columbus and pick the brain of the expert salesman about the best recordings for classical music.

I still have some Peaches replacement inner sleeves.

My favorite record store back in the '70s is still in business, albeit in a different location: The Record Exchange in Salem, MA. Still a great store too.

[Spyder]

Well before my time, but I love this photo of Bloomingdales in 1904.

[rene smalldridge]

We had a Woolworth's and a Duckwalls dime stores right next to each other here in my little hometown. Both carried albums and 45s when I was a kid. We also had a stereo store named Condes which had three listening rooms where we crowded in as teenagers. I do remember several of the local supermarkets carrying those dollar plastic bags of 45s but we did most of our grocery shopping at the neighborhood mom and pop grocery store(about 12 of them in our town - all long,long gone).

[rushed again]

Originally Posted by Jay F

Woolworth's had stores all over New Jersey. And there was the Woolworth building in downtown New York, which was the tallest building in either the U.S. or the world for some time. I had no idea Woolworth's was anything other than a U.S. thing. Ours had but a paltry selection of records. The sealed 45s were their biggest offering.

We had two independent record stores in my town, plus a Korvette's "on the highway" (Rt. 22).

I remember Korvette's in North Brunswisk on Rt1 in NJ. My mother worked there and I rec'd a discount off the $2.79..or whatever it was...