Yes. Downtown Toronto was a mecca for record stores. In addition to Sam's, A&A and Sunrise, at various times, Peter Dunne's Vinyl Museum was right next door, a few doors up there was Record World, Music World was opposite Sam's at Yonge and Gould, the HMV Megastore was a few doors further down and across the street at 316 Yonge was Records on Wheels overtop of the Picadilly Tube. Between Wellesley and Bloor there was another Sunrise, the original Records on Wheels and Cheapies. I'm probably leaving out another 5 or 6!
Remembering Record Stores
- Thread starter Quad Linda
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wheeler98
400 Club - QQ All-Star
I was visiting Toronto around 1997, spent a small fortune on cd’s in Sam’s that would have cost a big fortune in the UK 
A tour of: The 'In' Groove record store.
Also on discogs:
https://www.discogs.com/seller/theingroove/profile
Nice store in Phoenix Arizona, any members regular customers there?
The audio rooms are pretty sweet looking (most of that gear is just French to me BTW.)
Reminds me of the old Sacramento Watt Avenue 'Tower Records' back in the day, but the Tower would be about 4 times that size.
Also on discogs:
https://www.discogs.com/seller/theingroove/profile
Nice store in Phoenix Arizona, any members regular customers there?
The audio rooms are pretty sweet looking (most of that gear is just French to me BTW.)
Reminds me of the old Sacramento Watt Avenue 'Tower Records' back in the day, but the Tower would be about 4 times that size.
stoopid
is as nasty does
Went to Amoeba in Hollywood, CA this past saturday. Only bought one disc, the other two used discs I picked out were in unacceptably poor condition (thankfully I knew to inspect them at checkout prior to the purchase). I was excited to go, and while I'm fairly anti-vinyl and didn't spend a single second looking at that inventory, I was impressed with the variety of other media and they did have some older/rarer CDs. Some newer, well known artists had zero discs in stock. Overall it was a waste of time IMHO. I can get pretty much anything online now, and my rate of success getting things in playable/acceptable condition has been higher than my sample size at Amoeba.
Although not leaps and bounds better, I do think my local Zia's in Vegas is a better store overall. Or at least comparable in terms of CD and movie/tvs show selection, even though Zia is maybe 2/3 the physical size of Amoeba's Hollywood store.
At a time it's most important for these stores to make a case for existing, they seem to be doing a mediocre job at actually executing on the 'record store' thing. Zia's isn't awesome but they at least have good stock, are clean, organized, etc. Neither store has me abandoning my new normal and chasing titles online. I would very much want them to succeed, their success generates users of physical media and helps keep the lights on for new releases. The very foundation of the physical media ethos seems lacking, and this is only going to accelerate the decline.
Although not leaps and bounds better, I do think my local Zia's in Vegas is a better store overall. Or at least comparable in terms of CD and movie/tvs show selection, even though Zia is maybe 2/3 the physical size of Amoeba's Hollywood store.
At a time it's most important for these stores to make a case for existing, they seem to be doing a mediocre job at actually executing on the 'record store' thing. Zia's isn't awesome but they at least have good stock, are clean, organized, etc. Neither store has me abandoning my new normal and chasing titles online. I would very much want them to succeed, their success generates users of physical media and helps keep the lights on for new releases. The very foundation of the physical media ethos seems lacking, and this is only going to accelerate the decline.
quadsearcher
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
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Kinda sad to hear that about Amoeba, last time I was in the Hollywood store was before they moved a few years ago. I had a mental list of things I couldn't find from reliable online sellers. I scored two of them having checked condition visually and was very happy with them. I spent a couple hours there and could have spent more time. A lot of records at the time, but some of almost every format of interest to me. Few quads that day though.
Love this store. They are a HUGE presence on RSD
stoopid
is as nasty does
Above the CD section there were surround formats for the artists in that section (alphabetically). Their surround selection was decent, pricing about where retail is for the things I looked at. No rare surround releases though, I doubt they see people come in off the street to sell their collections, and when/if that does happen I'm sure buyers like me snatch them up quick.
I was in and out in about 30 minutes. Granted, my shopping list was short (almost non-existent) as I recently when on a shopping spree online getting most of the CDs to fill in gaps in my collection. But I did check stock on many popular artists I also collect and it was very much lacking. Add to that the random 33% success rate on finding decent condition discs and it doesn't scream "come back soon". Knowing where record stores were and seeing where they are today, it's been a lot better in the past. Having Zia's locally just means when I get the itch I have someplace to go. Every few years.
https://www.blogto.com/city/2020/12/hmv-superstore-333-yonge-street-toronto/
The HMV Superstore at 333 Yonge Street in the summer of 1991. Photo courtesy of Retrontario.
Rock'N'Roll duty: a row of quality music stores. Photo courtesy of the Toronto Star.
The HMV Superstore at 333 Yonge Street in the summer of 1991. Photo courtesy of Retrontario.
Rock'N'Roll duty: a row of quality music stores. Photo courtesy of the Toronto Star.
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