Remembering Record Store Chains (The good ones)
- Thread starter JonUrban
- Start date
Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:
Wallich's was an LA chain. Flagship store was at Hollywood & Vine. A similar operation in many ways to Rose Records in Chicago, which I'll discuss in a later post.
Wallich's Hollywood flagship ca. 1940's or 50's.
Wallich's Hollywood flagship 1970.
Wallich's Hollywood flagship interior shot.
Another Wallich's Hollywood flagship interior shot.
[video=youtube;X6IMuRICNP0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6IMuRICNP0[/video]
Although I've posted this before, it's priceless! "Wanna buy a record?" A 1951 half hour video about Wallich's with Mel Blanc and Billy May.
That's all, folks!
Wallich's Hollywood flagship ca. 1940's or 50's.
Wallich's Hollywood flagship 1970.
Wallich's Hollywood flagship interior shot.
Another Wallich's Hollywood flagship interior shot.
[video=youtube;X6IMuRICNP0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6IMuRICNP0[/video]
Although I've posted this before, it's priceless! "Wanna buy a record?" A 1951 half hour video about Wallich's with Mel Blanc and Billy May.
That's all, folks!
You beat me to that one! I had intended to feature Co-op in a later post. Although I shopped at many of them, the Janesville, WI location was the one I was in most. It was on the way to Mad City, across from the mall in Janesville. A wonderful Facebook post about their Clinton, IA store: https://www.facebook.com/CoopRecordsClinton
Janesville. Wow, I missed out. When did it close?
I never saw those listening rooms. They must have taken them out pretty quick. I wonder if Tower put them out of business. Seems they closed just a few years after Tower opened. The Wallichs I usually went to was in Orange County at Buena Park mall.
I ran Record Bar stores in Oklahoma City, Norman,OK, Odessa,TX and Arlington,TX over an 8 year period in the 80's. I always made sure we had the best selection of imports in town. We carried every "Japanese virgin vinyl" title the importers could get for us. It was a great company to work for. Whenever artists were in town for concerts, they always came by the store. Looking back, running record stores was more fun (overall) than working for record labels - just not as profitable.
Korvettes was great for records. The store in downtown Hartford was old but well stocked.
Camelot was also one of the "good" mall stores, but I think they got swallowed up by Musicland, after which they all went down hill via list price mania.
Record Bar was the parent company of the super record store "Tracks". I am not sure how many there were, but I do know of that one in Norfolk, VA in the '70s. (My favorite)
The Boston Tower Records was cool, but I don't think it was the "biggest". I remember sneaking in there on my business trips to Boston. I remember once around the time that Cat Stevens made his statements about Rushdie (sp?), and the staff had posted a cardboard marker asking buyers not to buy the Cat Stevens CDs in his section. They did have a good selection of imports and CD5s from the UK and Japan (singles) there on the second floor. They also did have a ton of LaserDiscs on the first floor, of which I purchased many.
I wonder if I bought anything from the Kap'n?
Strawberry's was OK, but I was never impressed with them. Newbury Comics blew them away.
QL is a goldmine with all of this stuff, thanks. You're the best. (I forgot you already did one of these threads, Sorry)
Camelot was also one of the "good" mall stores, but I think they got swallowed up by Musicland, after which they all went down hill via list price mania.
Record Bar was the parent company of the super record store "Tracks". I am not sure how many there were, but I do know of that one in Norfolk, VA in the '70s. (My favorite)
The Boston Tower Records was cool, but I don't think it was the "biggest". I remember sneaking in there on my business trips to Boston. I remember once around the time that Cat Stevens made his statements about Rushdie (sp?), and the staff had posted a cardboard marker asking buyers not to buy the Cat Stevens CDs in his section. They did have a good selection of imports and CD5s from the UK and Japan (singles) there on the second floor. They also did have a ton of LaserDiscs on the first floor, of which I purchased many.
I wonder if I bought anything from the Kap'n?
Strawberry's was OK, but I was never impressed with them. Newbury Comics blew them away.
QL is a goldmine with all of this stuff, thanks. You're the best. (I forgot you already did one of these threads, Sorry)
Rose Records was a local Chicago are chain. I don't recall any of their stores being outside Illinois, with the exception of one in Mad City (Madison, WI.) At first, they had two stores in the Loop (Downtown Chicago.) They started a second local suburban chain in the mid-70's called Sounds Good. The Sounds Good stores were all renamed Rose Records sometime in the 80's.
Due to Rose's immense buying power, they had fantastic prices on cut-outs, and a great selection of them. Other than their sales and cut-outs, prices were list.
Wabash Ave. was Rose's flagship. It had three full floors and stocked every domestic title across all genres. For much of it's existence, it was a living embodiment of the Schwann catalog (remember that?) Records were arranged by label and catalog #, NOT by artist. They usually bought much of an LP's remaining stock when it went out of print. That way, they carried OOP titles for years after they were discontinued. In the early to mid 70's, I found many titles at Rose Wabash that had been OOP for years. When Rose went out in the late 90's, they closed all their locations. Tower acquired the Wabash Ave. location.
Outside view of Rose Wabash
Outside view of Rose's 2nd biggest store, Ashland Ave., near Belmont & Lincoln. It was opened as a Sounds Good, then converted to Rose. It had been an A&P food store, and still had the old "electric eye" automatic doors. Everyone used a mat to trigger the automatic doors in those days, EXCEPT A&P. Since much of the surrounding area was Hispanic, Ashland was where I bought all of my first salsa albums. El Nuevo Barretto, indeed. This location also had a spectacular imports section across all genres, not just salsa and cumbias.
Due to Rose's immense buying power, they had fantastic prices on cut-outs, and a great selection of them. Other than their sales and cut-outs, prices were list.
Wabash Ave. was Rose's flagship. It had three full floors and stocked every domestic title across all genres. For much of it's existence, it was a living embodiment of the Schwann catalog (remember that?) Records were arranged by label and catalog #, NOT by artist. They usually bought much of an LP's remaining stock when it went out of print. That way, they carried OOP titles for years after they were discontinued. In the early to mid 70's, I found many titles at Rose Wabash that had been OOP for years. When Rose went out in the late 90's, they closed all their locations. Tower acquired the Wabash Ave. location.
Outside view of Rose Wabash
Outside view of Rose's 2nd biggest store, Ashland Ave., near Belmont & Lincoln. It was opened as a Sounds Good, then converted to Rose. It had been an A&P food store, and still had the old "electric eye" automatic doors. Everyone used a mat to trigger the automatic doors in those days, EXCEPT A&P. Since much of the surrounding area was Hispanic, Ashland was where I bought all of my first salsa albums. El Nuevo Barretto, indeed. This location also had a spectacular imports section across all genres, not just salsa and cumbias.
kap'n krunch
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Spec's Records & Tapes
An independent Florida & Puerto Rico chain, later acquired by Camelot Music. Great selection!
View attachment 18851
Photo of Coral Gables location, which I shopped in when vacationing in Florida, as well as before/after Caribbean cruises.
Spec’s Records & Tapes, a mainstay in Coral Gables since 1953, was a casualty in the development of Chase Bank, the Miami Herald reported. Demolition began on the property at 1570 South Dixie Highway last week, after the music store closed its door in February. The bank is expected to open later this year, next to Swensen’s restaurant, the newspaper said . Spec’s was founded by the late Martin “Mike” Spector in 1948, eventually expanding to 80 stores in Florida as well as Puerto Rico. The Spector family sold it in 1998 to Camelot Music Group, and it was later acquired by Trans World Entertainment Corp. The chain was hit hard by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and struggled to compete with other music chains. [Miami Herald] –Mark Maurer - See more at: http://therealdeal.com/miami/blog/2...se-bank-in-coral-gables/#sthash.d6QAp6uv.dpuf
I don't remember this one!!!! maybe I was already in Madrid!
kap'n krunch
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
I'm sure you did ..I probably rung you up or helped you find whatever you were looking for....cool!!!...
I wonder if I bought anything from the Kap'n?
Strawberry's was OK, but I was never impressed with them. Newbury Comics blew them away.
.... (I forgot you already did one of these threads, Sorry)
I think Spec's had one in Key West, just off Duval street, a couple blocks from Sloppy Joe's and the house with the Hemingway cats. Were they all named Sixto?
Although not a chain, there was a great used record store in Key West, way off the beaten path. Does anyone remember it's name. I don't.
Although not a chain, there was a great used record store in Key West, way off the beaten path. Does anyone remember it's name. I don't.
The Rang
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Tower for sure and up here we had a few great chains led by A&B Sound (God I miss them), plus Sam the Record Man, A&A Records, and Kelly's in their earlier days
I don't know A&B Sound, but I remember the other Canadian chains. I remember looking on the 2nd floor of Sam's Yonge Street and finding a long lost CD of Dusty Springfield. I must have yelped or something because everyone looked at me funny. Their computer said there was none left and I found one in the rack! I also remember Flipside records, which I think turned into A&A. There was Sunrise too, which is still going but is more independent. When I was 15, my grandparent took me to a little town near Albany, NY and on the way home we stopped at a mall. There was a store called Record Town, and at the other end of the mall was another store called Tape Town, which was all cassettes. That was the only time I saw the price codes on LP's and cassettes actually mean something.
that's where i got my ever first batch DVD-As.
sadly from about 05-06 they went down very rapidly
Strawberries Records & Tapes, you could find 'em scattered all around New England. Originally owned by Roulette records' honcho Morris Levy, you could walk into any outlet and find tons of Roulette catalog Lp's for a few bucks each. When I was a kid I loaded up on dozens of compilations, Tommy James albums, various jazz titles, etc. for almost nothing. You could also find some used vinyl in many locations, too, most of it cheap and worth much more than they were selling them for. They were also my main stores for tracking down the harder to find 45's of the day--obscure '70s soul and indie titles that Bubbled Under or charted low on the R&B charts, things like that.
Have to admit, though, my heart has always been with mom-and-pop stores, thrifts, out of the way and unlikely places to find vinyl. But the core of my 45 collection is mainly thanks to Strawberries, who would order anything I was looking for and wasted little time in getting it. They weren't on the level of Korvettes, Tower, Sam Goody, but for New England, unless you traveled to Boston, couldn't imagine a better way to get the new stuff.
ED
Have to admit, though, my heart has always been with mom-and-pop stores, thrifts, out of the way and unlikely places to find vinyl. But the core of my 45 collection is mainly thanks to Strawberries, who would order anything I was looking for and wasted little time in getting it. They weren't on the level of Korvettes, Tower, Sam Goody, but for New England, unless you traveled to Boston, couldn't imagine a better way to get the new stuff.
ED
"Spec's Records & Tapes
An independent Florida & Puerto Rico chain, later acquired by Camelot Music. Great selection!
Photo of Coral Gables location, which I shopped in when vacationing in Florida, as well as before/after Caribbean cruises.
Spec’s Records & Tapes, a mainstay in Coral Gables since 1953, was a casualty in the development of Chase Bank, the Miami Herald reported. Demolition began on the property at 1570 South Dixie Highway last week, after the music store closed its door in February. The bank is expected to open later this year, next to Swensen’s restaurant, the newspaper said . Spec’s was founded by the late Martin “Mike” Spector in 1948, eventually expanding to 80 stores in Florida as well as Puerto Rico. The Spector family sold it in 1998 to Camelot Music Group, and it was later acquired by Trans World Entertainment Corp. The chain was hit hard by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and struggled to compete with other music chains. [Miami Herald] –Mark Maurer - See more at: http://therealdeal.com/miami/blog/20....d6QAp6uv.dpuf"
Great find Linda, I LP shopped in the Coral Gables Spec's many a time.....my mother was a Head Nurse at the nearby Doctor's Hospital in the Gables. Hurricane Andrews ended our relationship with South Florida also! John
An independent Florida & Puerto Rico chain, later acquired by Camelot Music. Great selection!
Photo of Coral Gables location, which I shopped in when vacationing in Florida, as well as before/after Caribbean cruises.
Spec’s Records & Tapes, a mainstay in Coral Gables since 1953, was a casualty in the development of Chase Bank, the Miami Herald reported. Demolition began on the property at 1570 South Dixie Highway last week, after the music store closed its door in February. The bank is expected to open later this year, next to Swensen’s restaurant, the newspaper said . Spec’s was founded by the late Martin “Mike” Spector in 1948, eventually expanding to 80 stores in Florida as well as Puerto Rico. The Spector family sold it in 1998 to Camelot Music Group, and it was later acquired by Trans World Entertainment Corp. The chain was hit hard by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and struggled to compete with other music chains. [Miami Herald] –Mark Maurer - See more at: http://therealdeal.com/miami/blog/20....d6QAp6uv.dpuf"
Great find Linda, I LP shopped in the Coral Gables Spec's many a time.....my mother was a Head Nurse at the nearby Doctor's Hospital in the Gables. Hurricane Andrews ended our relationship with South Florida also! John
Sam the Record Man, for all you QQ'ers up north:
Sam and his Son Jason at flagship store.
Want to Seymour about Sam? visit: http://www.mashpedia.com/Sam_the_Record_Man
Sam and his Son Jason at flagship store.
Want to Seymour about Sam? visit: http://www.mashpedia.com/Sam_the_Record_Man
A&A, also for you Canadiens. A Canadian independent chain, later owned by CBS, then turned independent again. Sam the Record Man's flagship store was down the block from A&A's flagship.
Similar threads
