The Best Places to Shop For Vinyl Around St. Cloud
For the first time since the 1980's, vinyl has surpasses CD's as the top selling music medium. CNN Business reported that in the first half of the year, vinyl accounted for $232.1 million of music sales. CDs only brought in $129.9 million.
I'm part of that number. I've been collecting vinyl records for almost seven years now. It all started when my grandparents passed away and my family was about to get rid of my grandma's vinyl record collection. I couldn't bare for them to get rid of them, even though I had no way to listen to all those classic records. So I hoarded them and eventually got myself a turn table. That hoarding hasn't stopped since. At this point, I have turned into a home for wayawrd vinyl. I have friends and family members leaving me boxes of unwanted discs because they know I will give them a good home.
When it comes to vinyl shopping around the area, I have a few go-to places.
Cloud City Records is the business that does the popular vinyl pop-up shops around the area. Chad Dyer operates the business and has a revolving selection of records that he totes to local breweries for events. I have found some of my grail records ("Damn the Torpedoes" - Tom Petty, "Little Queen" - Heart) through Chad at really reasonable prices. Find out where he will be next on his website.
I found out LGS had a great selection of records when I was doing a live event there last fall. They had a lot-a-bit of everything. I could've spent hours going through their selection. I found a sealed copy of Tesla's "The Great Radio Controversy" and my heart skipped a beat. I also found a couple of really great ABBA albums there too. IF you are in need of a turntable they have had rotating selections of those as well. You can find the record selection on the Lewis Game Shop side of the store.
This was a recent discovery. I was browsing Wal-Mart in Sartell this summer and saw that they had a really decent selection of new vinyl records. If you are looking for newer albums from artists like Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, and Harry Styles they have it. They also have reprints of bands like Fleetwood Mac, Queen, and Guns N Roses. It caught me off guard, but it is a great place to start for new collectors.
Goodwill is a gamble. There is no predicting what will come through as a donation so you won't always find what you are looking for, but when you do it feels like you just found a treasure chest on a beach. I once found a copy of Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again" and I about did a backflip in the aisle. It is always worth at least checking out. You just never know what will be waiting for you. Plus it is usually pretty cheap.
Happy collecting y'all! Let me know what your grail album is on the 98.1 mobile app!
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