Top Three Independent Record Stores in St. Louis

Most of the independent bookstores in the St. Louis area have long fallen by the wayside. There is still Left Bank Books in the Central West End and a smattering of small specialty stores like the fantasy shops, new age places and ethnic stores, but all the rest just couldn’t compete with the big chains like Barnes and Noble and Borders. There is still a handful of small, independent record stores scattered about, but can their demise be much further behind? Below is a review of the top three independent record stores in the St. Louis area:

Last week the first of our selections almost bit the dust. Sherre Birenbaum announced that her little record shop on Manchester Road in Maplewood was closing. The store specializes in Classic Rock from the sixties and seventies. It also carries a few new CD releases. The problem, as Sherre states it, is the record companies don’t care about the fans of that type of music anymore.

The only kind of new releases that they put out is the “best of” collections. You can get “The Best of Elton John” anywhere they sell CDs, but if you want “Tumbleweed Connection” or “Madman Across the Water” you’d be hard pressed to find it at any of the chains. That’s where the small shops used to come in. But with a dwindling supply base and higher prices, it is getting more and more difficult for the small guys to compete.

So Sherre decided to call it quits. She sent out the notice in her weekly email to all of her customers. She was flooded with responses asking her not to close. They came from as far away as New York, Texas, Guam, and Spain. The good news is that she has decided to stick it out for awhile.

The other good news is that small companies from Europe who don’t require the huge profit margins are putting out CDs of the old music. So if you are looking for some Classic Rock that you might not be able to find at the mall, stop by and check out The Disc Connection. Oh by the way, if you’re into drumming, Sherre’s husband Rob owns the shop next door, Drum Headquarters, which has the largest supply of drums and equipment in the area.

Tom “Papa” Ray DJ’s a popular Monday night Blues program on KDHX public radio in St. Louis. A long time fixture on the local music scene, he and his partner Lew Prince decided to open a music store way back in 1979. The only problem was they didn’t have any money. They pooled their respective record collections together and sold them out of a booth at Soulard Market on Saturdays. They finally got a 400 sq. ft. store on Delmar.

They got it cheap because it had about 136 building code violations. At first they only sold used records, but then as the business improved, they started selling new and finally with the advent of CDs, they expanded and moved into a 7000 sq. ft. building up the street. Their current location is a pandemonium of record bins overflowing with vinyl, CDs and a few tapes.

Every square inch of the walls is covered with concert announcements and music posters. Take plenty of time to browse through the bins, you never know what you might find. They also have an excellent selection of Jazz and some really hard to find Blues records, as well as lots of stuff from local bands. Vintage Vinyl is at 6362 Delmar in the Loop area of St. Louis.

Euclid Records is located on Big Bend in Webster Groves right up the street from Webster University. In 2003 they closed their other location in the Central West End and expanded into the Alpine Shop that was next door.

Euclid Records was founded in 1980 by Joe Schwab and soon built a solid reputation as one of the top used record stores in the Midwest. The store has attracted national attention by making Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of best independent record stores.

Their website, http://www.euclidrecords.com ships records to thousands of customers all over the world. The store has the area’s largest selection of used CDs and vinyl albums as well as 45’s and 78’s. The store also stocks posters, photos, music magazines and books.

So, if you just want to pick up a copy of the latest bubblegum hit then any old Wal-Mart will probably do, but if you’re serious about your music you can’t beat the last of the independents.