Carolina Soul Records

The best record store I have come across. It is always a joy to see what you may find. Easily one of the highlights of my week.

Very friendly and helpful staff! I’ve been in several times and called in when searching for something. I appreciate how they reward regular customers in various ways!

Working w Jason and Devin was more than a business transaction it became personal. My dad recently passed away and we had approx 1500 albums. They were so patient and respectful with me as I needed time to part w the albums since it was my “daddy and me” connection for over 50 yrs. They were generous/considerate with their pricing and educated me with how the record industry worked. It was one of those connections that we agreed will go beyond the sale. We highly recommend them and will use them when my husband is ready to offload his collection one day (married a former DJ)!

The place to stay hours searching and listening to awesome music! grab a tshirt too with this beautiful logo

Was a quick trip, in & out in less than 5 minutes. Got what I needed done. Next, go around. I'll actually stay and look what they have to offer.

Outstanding collection of soul, jazz, r&b, and gospel records along with more than a smattering of other genres as well. Cool downtown location and backed by a massive off-site warehouse browsable through eBay or discogs. I even received very fair trade value for pieces from my collection that were ready for a new home. Definitely my go to vinyl spot in Durham!

Had a wonderful experience selling off some used vinyl I had. 10/10 would definitely recommend. The retail space itself is a bit small, but what it lacks in size it makes up in charm. The man who helped me was very kind and up front about the whole transaction.

The best record store in NC! Ask for Jack:)

Great operation. I wish I had you in my hometown! Helpful staff. Large selection of rare vinyl. Good condition standards.

Great place to BUY records, TERRIBLE place to SELL records.They are a burn and churn outfit and depend on hugely lowballing when buying collections and then make bank, not sharing it with the sellers.When they sold that handpainted jazz album for $8000 you know full well the seller never got even close to $4000 for it - a look at their auctions with records selling for insane prices sometimes and they get it all, the seller gets less than pennies on the dollar.My experience: I sent a list of 1000 handpicked gem 45s from the early 70s, a great collection - they replied they were interested in selling 350 of them and would decide on the rest after "seeing how they show" they kept repeating.They were clearly discouraging a consignment and didn't want to help me liquify the collection FOR ME.I initially offered them a buy the whole collection price, extremely fair, but they turned it down.So I spent $400 to send the whole collection for consignment, when they got them they even said they had rarely seen a collection so well cared for, all in protective sleeves and in great condition.So they ended up only posting 350 just like they said in spite of the great titles, great condition, and "showing well". Out of 75 Alice Cooper group promos and foreign PSs, they only listed 5, out of 60 Hendrix promos and foreign PSs they only listed about 5.The collection was loaded with Trex, Thin Lizzy, Sparks, Roxy Music, MC5, and all the 70s greats and they didn't post 700 of them, claiming they only post $20 and up singles, nearly all 1000 of these 45s $20 and up.They also said they would fill out the auction, with 700 45s of their own, and it would be similar material - it wasn't, it was a total hodgepodge of whatever they could throw on there....as long as it wasn't MY stuff.THEN they posted on the day after Xmas, a poor choice to me,and with a 3 day auction run, and I had no say in it. In the end, I had my lawyer nearly stop the auction until we had a chance to discuss it.They ended up just buying the collection, lowballed, and they broke even on the auction...but in the end, they bought nearly 700 45s for around $2-3 each including around 120 Hendrix and orig Alice Cooper band promos and PSs along with all the other classic 70s bands, no filler, no duds, no bad copies - a total steal for them.One copy of Stooges - Search and Destroy they sold for $167, the second copy they got for $3, same with MC5 - Shakin Street...so got screwed on any duplicate copies.In the end, I have to take responsibility for just not having the 700 45s returned, with me paying another $400...but it all happened fast and was a mess, no attempt to actually work with the customer.It made it very clear, their business model is buy cheap from people who don't know what they have and make a killing for themselves.Please, if you are selling a collection, do yourself a BIG favor and sell them somewhere else.

Great record store. Try to visit once a month. Good selection of new and used products. Would recommend to anyone who is in to vinyl.

I enjoyed digging through all of the old soul records. Carolina Soul has such an amazing selection. I could've stayed for hours. The price points are reasonable and it really made me feel like I was in a scene from Love Jones. Will definitely go back.

Rating: 4.5/5. The pristine store is well-organized in downtown Durham. The majority of their selection was soul, hip hop and reggae. We bought one vinyl record. There was a comfortable sofa for guests to relax. It was a close and pleasant walk from the awesome Rue Cler French bistro restaurant.

I stayed in Durham for all of May and Carolina Soul became a regular destination for me. The store is super clean and organized; customers will have little to complain about in this regard. I bought a copy of a very rare Vinyl Me, Please repressing of Spiritualized's Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. What's cool about Carolina Soul is you get a card and for every $20 you spend, you get a hole punched in the card. After spending $100, you earn $10 off your purchase. I might have used the card a few times... But where the store really shines is its themed sales and eBay auctions. One weekend, it sold off an excellent Afrobeat collection and I was fortunate to get an original Nigerian (!) pressing of Fela Kuti and Roy Ayers' Music of Many Colours. Carolina Soul also held a crazy jazz auction on eBay with OG copies of Wayne Shorter's JuJu, Nina Simone's Pastel Blues, and Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come among many over coveted titles. I don't know how the shop acquires these ridiculous collections. I suspect sellers hit dire financial straits and need to raise money quick to get a kidney transplant or something. It hurts my heart to think of having to part with such music. If you're in the Triangle, Carolina Soul is definitely worth a trip, or, in my case, four trips.

Really dig this place! I came here for Record Store Day. Huge selection & was super blown away at the amount of 45s they have! I'm a big jazz, soul, hip-hop head, so I was happy to see so much of that in the "racks." Neat & organized. I really can't stand to go record digging in a store that has no organization. Prices are reasonable, too!

This store is incredible. Fantastic selection, perfectly fairly priced, very helpful staff. Also- they spin KILLER soul while you shop. Too much fun!

Has gone downhill. All well known or sought after albums (think miles Davis, Black Sabbath) are sold on eBay where they can get top dollar and are not available In the store for the locals. Don't go here expecting a large selection of albums you are searching for. Lately in my visits the albums for sale in the store are mostly scratched and dirty, unknown albums, ones that will never sell online. Carolina soul should re-think not letting the locals browse the more well-known artists they receive for sale.

My family and I visited this record store while on vacation in n. Carolina. Brought back memories of record shops before digital downloads and CDs. Bought a couple books and a Nipsy Russell LP.

I only come down to Raleigh-Durham once a year on the holidays and I have one full day to myself for digging. Past trips to the area have left me somewhat underwhelmed at the offerings from the local record stores so when I heard Carolina Soul was opening up in time for my 2015 visit, I made sure to work it into my travels. Since the store just opened, they had only about 35% of their inventory ready to go (I was told the grand opening is in January and they will be at full vinyl capacity) but even that was enough to make this store stand out from all of the others. Their jazz and soul bins are well curated and their prices are a notch below what you would pay online and at record shows. Jack was manning the shop at the time and was extremely accommodating and friendly. The store is crisp, clean and offers up a pleasant digging experience. I look forward to coming back next year with a few hours to kill and a vinyl budget to decimate.

Great new record store in downtown Durham. Very deep and appealing selection in the rock, jazz and reggae sections (and the other sections as well, I assume). Prices are good and the dollar bin is amazing. I'll be back!

I love this place. They always have an awesome selection of soul and funk 45s and albums at affordable prices. They also have hard to find records at a higher price point for the discerning collector.

Let me preface this particular review by saying I am not a vinyl guy. Checked out CS with my buddy who is a music maven. To a novice, the store is intimidating based on the sheer vinyl volume. Even though it is a fairly small shop it is chock full of records. It does appear that their selection is diverse and extensive. I only saw one person manning the store and he made no effort to be helpful...if you are music knowledgeable and have time to kill this may be the place for you. Just do not count on assistance from their employees.

One of the best curated and reasonably priced record stores I've been in in a long time. I wish them great success and I'll definitely be back. Definitely check them out.

Man I spent at least an hour here just looking through the Jazz and soul! What a great store, definitely more used than new, all pretty well organized and prices were fair. They sell a lot on Discogs--being an out-of-tower I can certainly appreciate the online shopping selection, however I wish I could have seen some of those gems in person. Very impressed with the selection, definitely one of the best stores I've been in.

Great place for hard to find soul funk albums which is the main focus. Smaller selection of classic/heavy metal which is my main focus but what they had was reasonable if your not looking for really hard to finds.

This is just a killer little record shop in downtown Durham!! The place were stacked with a very impressive selection of vinyl, especially their amazing section of soul 45s. I picked up a grip of great funk singles that were in nice condition and fairly priced, and a sweet T-shirt in Carolina blue with the store's logo. My buddy picked up a nice clean original copy of Bill Withers' 'Still Bill'. While we were there, they were having a big sale of $1 records, with a ton of bargain boxes to dig through. They had some pretty serious heat displayed up on the walls as well, like an original mono Blue Note pressing of 'Blue Train' by John Coltrane. They also get props for having a listening station to preview the discs before you buy, and a friendly staff to help you out. Highly recommended if you are interested in quality soul records, or great deals on records of all genres. Bonus points for the fact that they played the Top Gun soundtrack from front to back while we were shopping. Take My Breath Away indeed!

I leave with a big stack of 45s EVERY SINGLE TIME! Really fair pricing, really knowledgeable staff. A small store but with a good layout and extremely well curated selection of vinyl!