Brian B.
Yelp
Contrary to popular belief, the most important factor in a great record store is not it's stock of new and used records. If all I wanted was to buy records, I could do that online or at any other record store. What sets Plaid Room apart is it's staff. They are not just ringing up sales and swiping credit cards, anyone can do that. They are tastemakers who never cease to have a recommendation for a great addition to your collection.
A record store should be so much more than a place to buy music, it should be a place for people of like minds to hang out, share music and share experiences. In that, Plaid Room Records excels. There's nothing like the community of music lovers that gather at a record store.
That being said, their selection of music is fantastic and if they don't have what you're looking for, they'll get it. At most record stores the used stuff is separated into genres, but a Plaid Room, everything is just in alphabetical order. At first it would seem that would make finding records more difficult, but it's actually just the opposite. Records are still easy to find by the artist's name, but along the way, as you flip through the racks, you'll undoubtedly find something unexpected that you may never have seen otherwise. For example, I was just flipping through and came across an original Stax Records pressing of Sam & Dave's "Hold On, I'm Coming." I immediate scooped it up and put it in the growing stack of records I was carrying around to buy. It's finds like that that excite me about going to Plaid Room, and that you simply cannot replicate online.
So next time you're looking for something, new or used, buy local and stop by Plaid Room instead of going online. Trust me, you'll enjoy it much more and your money will help keep Plaid Room around for many years to come!