Remembering Record Store Chains (The good ones)
- Thread starter JonUrban
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Much of my seventies vinyl came from an enormous record store in southwest Ohio called Record Theater...were they a chain?
Didn't find them until quad vinyl releases were on their last gasp, but it was a great source for imports...
Didn't find them until quad vinyl releases were on their last gasp, but it was a great source for imports...
Some vintage shots of HMV. We didn't have them in Chicago. I visited them on my trips to Manhattan. Good, although Tower, Virgin, and the many independents in NYC were more to my taste. We did have 4 Towers and a Virgin Megastore in Chicago.
Record theater was headquartered out of Buffalo NY. Lenny Silver was the head guy. Before it was Record Theater it was Trans America One Stop, which I was told was the largest record jobber east of the Mississippi.
On Sat morning, Record Theater would have a popular album on sale for $1.99 from ten to noon.
They had two locations in Buffalo and I know of the one in Cincinnati, OH .
On Sat morning, Record Theater would have a popular album on sale for $1.99 from ten to noon.
They had two locations in Buffalo and I know of the one in Cincinnati, OH .
For more info on Spec's & other Miami area record stores, check out Miami Herald's Flashback Miami posts on record stores:
http://flashbackmiami.com/2014/04/16/record-stores/
http://flashbackmiami.com/2014/04/16/record-stores/
Mainstream Records - Milwaukee
matchbook (far out, man!)
At their height, the chain founded by Jim Petersen had 14 stores in and around Milwaukee. In many strip centers, as well as Southgate.
Bizjournals article on Mainstream and Disc Man, Petersen's later store: http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2001/10/15/smallb1.html?page=all
matchbook (far out, man!)
At their height, the chain founded by Jim Petersen had 14 stores in and around Milwaukee. In many strip centers, as well as Southgate.
Bizjournals article on Mainstream and Disc Man, Petersen's later store: http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2001/10/15/smallb1.html?page=all
Great pictures!
Woodfield Mall and it's chains.
In August 1971, this mega-mall opened in Schaumburg, IL, a Chicago suburb. Immediately, its' Sears was the biggest volume location in their chain. The other anchor tenants were Marshall Field (now Macy's) and Penneys. It was named for Sears' Arthur Wood and Marshall Field. Those anchors are still there today, along with Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor. These days, despite many malls being on life support or dead, the mall thrives. When it opened it had three levels (in spots) and 200 stores. Today, it's 350 stores and still thriving. If you live in/around Chicago, you've been to Woodfield.
In it's early days, Woodfield had three record stores: Disc Records and TWO Musicland's. Since I was friends with the managers at all three, I got employee prices and unlimited exchanges on anything in print. Penneys, Sears, Kresge and Osco Drug all carried records. Schaak Electronics carried pre-recorded tapes, including a nice Q8 selection. So, that totaled eight stores that carried prerecorded music, six of them selling Quad! Later, they hosted JR's Music Shop and Sam Goody's chains. Today, there is a fairly large FYE.
In more recent times, there was a huge Tower Records store across from Woodfield, pictures posted earlier in this thread. A huge Borders was also across the street, with an entire level dedicated to music & video. Circuit City and Sound Warehouse were nearby. Best Buy and Barnes & Noble are still in the neighborhood. We'll explore Sound Warehouse in a later post, as well as J.R.'s Music Shop.
When I was a manufacturer's rep, I spent a week each month in Minneapolis calling on accounts. I cold called a building on Wayzata Blvd. (US 12.) It looked like small potatoes. Most of the building was below grade. Turned out, it was the headquarters of of Musicland, which was then the largest record store chain in the US. Most malls had one. Woodfield was the only mall I'd ever been in that had two! Many of Musicland's stores later became Sam Goody's. Musicland had a decent selection and great bargains on cutouts. Virtually all malls in IL, WI, MN and many other places had one. We'll also explore Sam Goody (Goody Got it!) in a later post.
Golden Ring Mall Musicland in suburban Baltimore, MD
it's in the bag
Disc Records had a better selection than Musicland, but still had high prices. They stocked virtually every domestic Quad. It was the best record store that Woodfield ever housed! I recall one other Disc Records store around Chicago in Hawthorn Center in Vernon Hills, IL. Sorry, I couldn't find any pictures of Disc Records. They had dozens of stores, as I found listed on an ad on the back cover of a Schwann Record Guide. I recall several being in Ohio. If anyone has any memories of Disc Records, please share them. Pictures, too, if you can find them.
In August 1971, this mega-mall opened in Schaumburg, IL, a Chicago suburb. Immediately, its' Sears was the biggest volume location in their chain. The other anchor tenants were Marshall Field (now Macy's) and Penneys. It was named for Sears' Arthur Wood and Marshall Field. Those anchors are still there today, along with Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor. These days, despite many malls being on life support or dead, the mall thrives. When it opened it had three levels (in spots) and 200 stores. Today, it's 350 stores and still thriving. If you live in/around Chicago, you've been to Woodfield.
In it's early days, Woodfield had three record stores: Disc Records and TWO Musicland's. Since I was friends with the managers at all three, I got employee prices and unlimited exchanges on anything in print. Penneys, Sears, Kresge and Osco Drug all carried records. Schaak Electronics carried pre-recorded tapes, including a nice Q8 selection. So, that totaled eight stores that carried prerecorded music, six of them selling Quad! Later, they hosted JR's Music Shop and Sam Goody's chains. Today, there is a fairly large FYE.
In more recent times, there was a huge Tower Records store across from Woodfield, pictures posted earlier in this thread. A huge Borders was also across the street, with an entire level dedicated to music & video. Circuit City and Sound Warehouse were nearby. Best Buy and Barnes & Noble are still in the neighborhood. We'll explore Sound Warehouse in a later post, as well as J.R.'s Music Shop.
When I was a manufacturer's rep, I spent a week each month in Minneapolis calling on accounts. I cold called a building on Wayzata Blvd. (US 12.) It looked like small potatoes. Most of the building was below grade. Turned out, it was the headquarters of of Musicland, which was then the largest record store chain in the US. Most malls had one. Woodfield was the only mall I'd ever been in that had two! Many of Musicland's stores later became Sam Goody's. Musicland had a decent selection and great bargains on cutouts. Virtually all malls in IL, WI, MN and many other places had one. We'll also explore Sam Goody (Goody Got it!) in a later post.
Golden Ring Mall Musicland in suburban Baltimore, MD
it's in the bag
Disc Records had a better selection than Musicland, but still had high prices. They stocked virtually every domestic Quad. It was the best record store that Woodfield ever housed! I recall one other Disc Records store around Chicago in Hawthorn Center in Vernon Hills, IL. Sorry, I couldn't find any pictures of Disc Records. They had dozens of stores, as I found listed on an ad on the back cover of a Schwann Record Guide. I recall several being in Ohio. If anyone has any memories of Disc Records, please share them. Pictures, too, if you can find them.
I remember going through the music at Penneys as a teenager and seeing an LP of "Empty Sky" (well before the domestic US release) and an 8-track of "Lady Samantha". I didn't learn what they really were until years later! I had never seen them even at Tower, whose Watt Avenue flagship store was right across the street.
I have both Lady Samantha and Empty Sky and UK 2ch 8 tracks. I bought them again on UK CD's.
Just like strange rain...
Just like strange rain...
I'm not sure what country my "Lady Samantha" CD is from, but I find it amusing that the cover is so...well...boring compared to the garish original! I appreciated that they found a non-vinyl to replace the noisy version of "Into the Old Man's Shoes".
I guess the whole thing is obsolete after "Rare Masters".
The Sears near me carried reel to reel tapes. I bought my first reel ever CCR by CCR there. 3 3/4 IPS.
blue.monk
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
While in New Orleans this week I happened upon the original Peaches. The clerk told me that even though the franchise was based on this store they have remained independent since their opening in 1975. They currently have a nice selection of new and used vinyl and proudly kept a decent stock even through the lean years. And, yes, they sell record crates although of a much sturdier variety than the ones the chain sold.
Didn't know that one was still there.
Tower is gone.
Is the independent Magic Bus still there? Last time I was in Nola, they had moved from the bus into an actual store.
Tower is gone.
Is the independent Magic Bus still there? Last time I was in Nola, they had moved from the bus into an actual store.
blue.monk
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
I don't know, Linda. I didn't have time to check out the local record stores (as I often do when traveling). Finding Peaches was a happy accident.
vinylguy4
701 Club - QQ All-Star
Record Bar must have had a good 8 track repair service. I've seen quite a few 8-tracks with a Record Bar 'fix-it' tag on the front.
Even the Q8 for this CD conversion has the Record Bar 'fix-it' tag
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111678488552 - look at one of the extra pics in this auction.
And the BS&T tape in posting #8 in this thread
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?20108-My-humble-Q8-Collection
vinylguy4
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Didn't know this about you Kap - very cool
The more you discover about the Kap'n the cooler he gets...he has many layers...he's a Marpow type of poster...sometimes he ruffles some feathers on here...but if you like candid...he does that concept very well
..he's very authentic
I started at things quite a bit later than most of the folks here, starting with being in high school and college in Manhattan in the mid-late 90s. I was at the Tower Records by Lincoln Center every week or two - fantastic classical section there of course. The HMV on 6th Ave. nearish to Times Square was good as well. The Virgin Megastore in Times Square got a bad rap, but also was a lot of fun - although they kept moving the classical section.
In Chicago the Tower Records in Lincoln Park was a favorite. The Virgin Megastore on Michigan Ave was very close, but the selection wasn't as good. Still an embarassment of riches.
I made a short detour in DC after that, and used to regularly hang out in their classical section (which was hidden all the way in the back of the second floor but was pretty good sized) and avoid my thesis project by purchasing music there, and chatting with Jens Laurson (the manager of the section at the time)
And then it all came crashing down fairly quickly. I returned to NYC (and began exploring music in surround) in 2007, and by then Tower and HMV were gone and Virgin was fading fast. J&R was just around the corner from where I lived much of that time, and became a favorite time to avoid responsibilities and shop for quite a while, until they too gave up the ghost in 2015 - I think they were the last all-new record store of significant size in the country by then.
There's still some cool places on the east coast though...Academy in NYC, the Princeton Record Exchange, Bullmoose (their store in Salem, NH is close to Boston and quite large), as well as smaller stores. But it's a shadow of what it was.
In Chicago the Tower Records in Lincoln Park was a favorite. The Virgin Megastore on Michigan Ave was very close, but the selection wasn't as good. Still an embarassment of riches.
I made a short detour in DC after that, and used to regularly hang out in their classical section (which was hidden all the way in the back of the second floor but was pretty good sized) and avoid my thesis project by purchasing music there, and chatting with Jens Laurson (the manager of the section at the time)
And then it all came crashing down fairly quickly. I returned to NYC (and began exploring music in surround) in 2007, and by then Tower and HMV were gone and Virgin was fading fast. J&R was just around the corner from where I lived much of that time, and became a favorite time to avoid responsibilities and shop for quite a while, until they too gave up the ghost in 2015 - I think they were the last all-new record store of significant size in the country by then.
There's still some cool places on the east coast though...Academy in NYC, the Princeton Record Exchange, Bullmoose (their store in Salem, NH is close to Boston and quite large), as well as smaller stores. But it's a shadow of what it was.
The more you discover about the Kap'n the cooler he gets...he has many layers...he's a Marpow type of poster...sometimes he ruffles some feathers on here...but if you like candid...he does that concept very well
LOL...I love you too guys!!!
Sorry if I come across in some other way...I am a Leo and sometimes I .. well... roar!!!
BTW, I am meeting Tim (timbre4), a fellow QQer later today..will probably post pics...
one big QQ hug!!!!
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