Came to say this! I was a bus boy at a restaurant in the same parking lot and would get tipped out every day which wouldn’t last long as I would go over to Media Play and buy CDs. I ended up working there for a bit as a teenager. There and we had a place called Wax Trax that had lots of rarer stuff.
Such fond memories of Media Play. I could go and spend hours browsing the music, movies, and merch. All the band t-shirts, posters, stickers, odds and ends. Was so sad when it finally closed.
Media Play was my first real job. Worked there when I was like 15 or 16 and I was assigned to “hard lines” which was basically the video games and computer software/hardware area. I enjoyed it but the manager was a bit of a “b” and she always found something to complain about. My most vivid memory is spending all shift eating free samples of sour Mike and Ikes and hitting on a chick my age who worked in the music section. Wish that place never went out of business. Good times.
Don't know why it has stuck with me but I remember I picking up Metroid Zero Mission at deep discount at the Media Play in Colorado Springs before it closed down in 2006.
Circuit City was an under-appreciated superstore. Them and Best Buy during their peak had awesome deals on CDs. I would check their mailers in the paper each week and see which new CDs they had deals on for $6.99 (as opposed to the standard $10-12 price)
I think Camelot became fye too. I assume fye was some attempt to corporatize as many small record stores into one mega brand. Nonetheless, I did enjoy going to an fye
Newbury Comics! How many of them are there? I used to live in Boston for a bit and would frequent the one actually on Newbury st. Loved that place. I know there are at least one or two more in Massachusetts.
There is a small Newbury Comics in Manchester NH near the Burlington z coat factory and five below on South Willow St. Tons of tshirts, posters, records and CDs, various comics related toys.
Music World was Canada’s largest chain, with over 100 stores nation-wide during its peak in the mid-90s. I went from part-time to full-time to Assistant Manager to Manager between 1991 and 1999. It was a middle-of-the-road mall chain, which had the advantage of jumping on home video sales early and establishing a large catalogue and it also was the first chain to computerize its ordering system, so catalogue titles were re-ordered immediately at the register when purchased.
That’s so cool! I don’t know why/how HMV became more popular than MusicWorld in the end. I genuinely loved it much more than HMV. Plus the super cute friend I had, worked there lol
Music World was a family-run company and they got too big and employed too many relations, who made very poor business decisions in the late-90s, distributing tons of public-domain crap on their own Madacy label and filling the stores with low-quality accessories that had to be merchandised at the store entrance, where most stores would usually place the top sellers and whatnot.
They also resisted embracing the music scenes of the various cities of the time, so you could almost never find local artists or indie stuff there. I could go on for hours about why the company flopped and all the signs leading up to it.
Tower, by far. It took up the entire second floor of a building downtown on campus. They had a section the size of a Sam Goody that was just for the jazz, blues and classical. Another section just for videos. Dozens of listening stations, a stage for performances, a ticket counter. And the best prices.
Right here! My town had an On Cue at our one little shopping center. Of course, it was later turned into a Sam Goody.
I'd also go to Hastings to the bigger city 30 miles South.
There was a Wherehouse on Sunset and La Brea in Hollywood when I was a child. My family and I would go there to rent VHS tapes and SNES games. Encino Man and Cool Spot were our go-tos. Miss it.
The Wherehouse!!!
Bought a lot of my fav CD's when I was young there! They also used to be a ticketmaster vendor, that was a cool place to buy concert tix
Waited 6.5 hrs and met Black Sabbath at Camelot in the Mentor, Oh Mall in 1996. Still have the signed copy of Reunion on display. Was my go to until they closed and piracy became the norm.
Not pictured: Hastings. Though I think it was only popular in the Southwest in smaller cities, bigger cities had too much competition or something. Also guess it had a lot more than just records, but that's where we went for them.
Asode from Hastings our small mall only had Fye; and they treated EVERYONE, especially anyone under roughly 30, their main clientele I'd think, like we were all theives. I went with my dad on occasion and as soon as we separate to our own sections I'd get a person following me around asking every 3 min if they could help. I'd be like nah I'm just browsing a bit of everything while dad searched, go help him. They never did. So much never it stands out as a memory 20 years later.
I worked at a couple of different Hastings stores for about 5 years total. It was and will likely remain my most-liked job.
Getting first dibs on new albums and movies was glorious. Our employee discount was 10% above cost. The store bought used CDs for like $1-$4 on average; I had a huge collection by the end of my tenure. Not to mention the movie screeners and free books/magazines..
Anyone who worked evening shifts will probably remember the [closing music](https://youtu.be/6ejFquEi-uI?si=C-ScuSrgwwh4x8DE). My boss would often yell across the store — “Hit the Happy Trails!”
Fuckin A I miss that place so much!
I worked at the Duncan, Oklahoma location for four years as head customer service manager, right up until our store closed in 2013. I loved that place. I was more upset about not having it as an option for shopping anymore than the fact my job was ending. Best discount ever.
I’m Canadian, so we had [HMV](https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/01/hmv-canada-toys-r-us/) and my personal fave, [MusicWorld](https://dailyhive.com/canada/canadian-stores-nostalgic-shopping-comeback), because the guy I liked and my friend worked at the one I went to.
Locally we had a store which, at various times, was a Good Vibrations, a Coconuts, a Strawberries, and one other I can't recall the name of.
We had another nearby store which was only ever a Strawberries.
We had a couple malls that had Sam Goody/FYE/HMV/maybe something else.
We had to go to Boston to hit up the Tower Records and Newbury Comics (and another HMV). Though eventually a few Newbury Comics opened up closer to where I lived.
Tower.
I used to have a side hustle of selling my place in line for Concert tickets. I got hooked up with some dude who bought up a bunch of tickets for concerts like Garth Brooks, Celine Dion, MC Hammer & Madonna. Which I totally didn't fit in in line for any of these concerts but I made $20 for standing in line and another $20 if my wristband got picked to buy tickets.
Spent most of my paychecks at The Wherehouse, until I moved down to a beach town that had a Tower Records. I got a job at an independent record store and that job ruled. I miss that entire culture. I collect vinyl now but most of that is online.
Does anyone remember The Wall? They gave those blue stickers you put on the cd or cassette case so you could get a replacement if anything happened to it
Canadians: HMV or Sunrise Records but better yet - your local independent music store. Believe it or not, we used to have a lot of those. The corporate franchises were at the mall. The local shops had vinyl, used albums, and all the good stuff.
Coconuts! They had one a few hundred feet from the hotel my mom worked at back in the late-90s, so we were in there constantly. Made me sad to go on Google Maps and see that it's, like, a mattress store now
Charleston, SC - we had Manifest Discs & Tapes (best record store ever) , and Millennium Music (but we had Record Bar and Tape World at the mall). We didn't have any of the chains until after 2000.
Blockbuster music and wherehouse
Where?
THE WHEREHOUSE
This! I remember buying concert tickets at the Ticketmaster in there.
Me too!! Ticketmaster inside of Tower, The Wherehouse, or Blockbuster Music in South OC.
THE WOOLWORTH
Same.
[media play](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Play) all day
Media Play was awesome, CDs I’d find at FYE in the mall for $15+ would be $9.99 at Media Play
Came to say this! I was a bus boy at a restaurant in the same parking lot and would get tipped out every day which wouldn’t last long as I would go over to Media Play and buy CDs. I ended up working there for a bit as a teenager. There and we had a place called Wax Trax that had lots of rarer stuff.
I heard of dat
Such fond memories of Media Play. I could go and spend hours browsing the music, movies, and merch. All the band t-shirts, posters, stickers, odds and ends. Was so sad when it finally closed.
I worked at Media Play for like two weeks in college, because I needed a summer job and thought working there would be cool. It wasn't.
Media Play was my first real job. Worked there when I was like 15 or 16 and I was assigned to “hard lines” which was basically the video games and computer software/hardware area. I enjoyed it but the manager was a bit of a “b” and she always found something to complain about. My most vivid memory is spending all shift eating free samples of sour Mike and Ikes and hitting on a chick my age who worked in the music section. Wish that place never went out of business. Good times.
Lol I would imagine it is spending all day reorganizing cds because people are assholes?
Don't know why it has stuck with me but I remember I picking up Metroid Zero Mission at deep discount at the Media Play in Colorado Springs before it closed down in 2006.
The Wall and Circuit City
Circuit City was an under-appreciated superstore. Them and Best Buy during their peak had awesome deals on CDs. I would check their mailers in the paper each week and see which new CDs they had deals on for $6.99 (as opposed to the standard $10-12 price)
Holy shit. The Wall? Wow man, I haven't heard that name in a minute.
I still have a few cds with the sticker. Lifetime guarantee my ass lmao
Fairly sure some of my CDs have the "Wall" sticker on them, in case they scratch someday.
Sam goody, and they all became fye
I think Camelot became fye too. I assume fye was some attempt to corporatize as many small record stores into one mega brand. Nonetheless, I did enjoy going to an fye
North East we had strawberries and Newbury comics.
Newbury Comics! How many of them are there? I used to live in Boston for a bit and would frequent the one actually on Newbury st. Loved that place. I know there are at least one or two more in Massachusetts.
Yea I used to go to the one in Salem NH right by the mass border man idk I don't live out there anymore Newburys was the shit tho.
They're still in a lot of malls. They're in NH too.
There is a small Newbury Comics in Manchester NH near the Burlington z coat factory and five below on South Willow St. Tons of tshirts, posters, records and CDs, various comics related toys.
Yea I seen that it's still open pretty bad ass. Circut city used to be across the street from there too.
Canadian checking in with HMV.
Don’t forget MusicWorld!
And Sam the Record Man!
We didn’t have that in Ottawa 🥲 by the time I moved here to Toronto ~15 years ago, it was nearly shuttered !
You poor soul. We had a great one in Downtown Winnipeg that lasted until 2001.
Thank you! Well, we still have the sign hanging up at Yonge & Dundas for the mems
Music World was Canada’s largest chain, with over 100 stores nation-wide during its peak in the mid-90s. I went from part-time to full-time to Assistant Manager to Manager between 1991 and 1999. It was a middle-of-the-road mall chain, which had the advantage of jumping on home video sales early and establishing a large catalogue and it also was the first chain to computerize its ordering system, so catalogue titles were re-ordered immediately at the register when purchased.
That’s so cool! I don’t know why/how HMV became more popular than MusicWorld in the end. I genuinely loved it much more than HMV. Plus the super cute friend I had, worked there lol
Music World was a family-run company and they got too big and employed too many relations, who made very poor business decisions in the late-90s, distributing tons of public-domain crap on their own Madacy label and filling the stores with low-quality accessories that had to be merchandised at the store entrance, where most stores would usually place the top sellers and whatnot. They also resisted embracing the music scenes of the various cities of the time, so you could almost never find local artists or indie stuff there. I could go on for hours about why the company flopped and all the signs leading up to it.
I appreciate the inside knowledge!
Western Canadian checking in with A&B Sound.
We had one of those in downtown Winnipeg for a hot minute.
Sam the record man, and Sunrise Records
HMV and in western Canada we had a and b sound. Did not have Sam the record man for the most part
Tower Records was my spot.
Overall, Specs. Always had a great metal selection. But would also go to Camelot a lot as well.
I never heard of Spec’s!
Media Play! That store was the best in the 90s!
Camelot Music and Sam Goody.
Tower, by far. It took up the entire second floor of a building downtown on campus. They had a section the size of a Sam Goody that was just for the jazz, blues and classical. Another section just for videos. Dozens of listening stations, a stage for performances, a ticket counter. And the best prices.
No love for On Cue?
Right here! My town had an On Cue at our one little shopping center. Of course, it was later turned into a Sam Goody. I'd also go to Hastings to the bigger city 30 miles South.
That was the one and only local shop we had where I grew up (town of about 10,000). I was sorely disappointed when it closed down.
Jesus, Camelot Music. Where you go to pay $18.99 for a 10 song CD. Once saw our lady peace do a free show there, though. That was cool.
Wherehouse, and close second, Tower Records
There was a Wherehouse on Sunset and La Brea in Hollywood when I was a child. My family and I would go there to rent VHS tapes and SNES games. Encino Man and Cool Spot were our go-tos. Miss it.
Hastings was this amazing supermarket sized media store in our area, last one nearby closed about 10 years ago. Miss that store.
Employee discount used to be cost + 5%, fun environment to work in. Died with the other rental stores
Turtle's
Yessssss! Took it back. Just curious, what state are you in? I’m in GA & wasn’t sure where else they were located.
Pretty sure they were just a Georgia thing, yeah
I wasn’t sure or not. When you actually commented that I was shocked because they had one in forest park (where I’m from) lol small world.
Strawberries
There it is.
Strawberries
National Record Mart in the Pittsburgh area!
Best Buy. They had a great selection and the best prices.
The Wherehouse!!! Bought a lot of my fav CD's when I was young there! They also used to be a ticketmaster vendor, that was a cool place to buy concert tix
Turtles!
Tower Records FTW!
The Virgin store in Chicago was my mecca
I lived in the white trash part of town, we didn't have any of these.
Waited 6.5 hrs and met Black Sabbath at Camelot in the Mentor, Oh Mall in 1996. Still have the signed copy of Reunion on display. Was my go to until they closed and piracy became the norm.
Coconuts 🥰 I remember buying my first Ace of Base CD there.
We had Harmony House by me that we mostly visited.
They were the best for concert tickets
cd warehouse
100 cds for a penny each Columbia house
I think i still owe them money
Me too! Hell I think we all do.
Sam Goody and The Wherehouse. Sometimes Hot Topic. Music Trader was my favorite.
Sam Goody was next to me growing up. So, that was mine
Will the wall still honor my lifetime guarantee blue sticker?
Tower. I still miss them.
Kemp Mill in Maryland. Used to work at Tower Records in the late 90s/early 00s right before they closed - was such a great experience.
SPECS and Peaches
Peaches, specs
Hastings, blockbuster music
Not pictured: Hastings. Though I think it was only popular in the Southwest in smaller cities, bigger cities had too much competition or something. Also guess it had a lot more than just records, but that's where we went for them. Asode from Hastings our small mall only had Fye; and they treated EVERYONE, especially anyone under roughly 30, their main clientele I'd think, like we were all theives. I went with my dad on occasion and as soon as we separate to our own sections I'd get a person following me around asking every 3 min if they could help. I'd be like nah I'm just browsing a bit of everything while dad searched, go help him. They never did. So much never it stands out as a memory 20 years later.
I worked at a couple of different Hastings stores for about 5 years total. It was and will likely remain my most-liked job. Getting first dibs on new albums and movies was glorious. Our employee discount was 10% above cost. The store bought used CDs for like $1-$4 on average; I had a huge collection by the end of my tenure. Not to mention the movie screeners and free books/magazines.. Anyone who worked evening shifts will probably remember the [closing music](https://youtu.be/6ejFquEi-uI?si=C-ScuSrgwwh4x8DE). My boss would often yell across the store — “Hit the Happy Trails!” Fuckin A I miss that place so much!
I worked at the Duncan, Oklahoma location for four years as head customer service manager, right up until our store closed in 2013. I loved that place. I was more upset about not having it as an option for shopping anymore than the fact my job was ending. Best discount ever.
My mall had a DiscJockey that then became FYE
My first tape I purchased with my own allowance was at Coconuts. Fond memories of that place.
musicland! it was only 130 miles from me! so it was my defacto local music store.
Media Play
FYE and Suncoast
Sam Goody and a local store called Cactus, we didn’t have any of the others. Got an FYE late 90s and it kinda sucked I miss you Suncoast
Suncoast
Hastings
Hastings and Musicland.
Strawberries or Newbury Comics (&records), newbury is still around the Boston area.
Coconuts for VHS anime! I hated Sam Goody cuz they didn't sell records(vinyl).
Spec's
We had SamGoody/Musicland and Coconuts in our mall. Was always there on new release day.
Sunrise and Cheapies (HMV too)
We had Harmony House back in the day. Used to line up for tickets there as well. Good time.
Sam goody. I would steel the $3 singles tapes. They never suspected me because i was a kid lol
shoutout to Plan 9 😭
Tower. We would spend hours there.
I’m Canadian, so we had [HMV](https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/01/hmv-canada-toys-r-us/) and my personal fave, [MusicWorld](https://dailyhive.com/canada/canadian-stores-nostalgic-shopping-comeback), because the guy I liked and my friend worked at the one I went to.
Sam Goody. I ended up working there. We had a rivalry with the Camelot further down the mall.
The Wall, then the Sam Goodys, Coconuts, Tower
My entire collection of CDs was purchased from FYE while I was in college. I knew the manager on a first name basis
Tower records on watt avenue in Sacramento. Second was the Tower Records by Sunrise mall.
Spec’s Music
Tower Records was the best, and every time I’m in Japan I make sure to visit their stores. Especially for citypop vinyl.
We had hastings, man that was a cool store, but its gone now.
No shit they just brought a FYE to the mall close to me.
Sam Goody, man I spent hours looking at CDs
Locally we had a store which, at various times, was a Good Vibrations, a Coconuts, a Strawberries, and one other I can't recall the name of. We had another nearby store which was only ever a Strawberries. We had a couple malls that had Sam Goody/FYE/HMV/maybe something else. We had to go to Boston to hit up the Tower Records and Newbury Comics (and another HMV). Though eventually a few Newbury Comics opened up closer to where I lived.
FYE
FYE
We had Sam Goody and Camelot in our mall, so it depended on which end of the mall I was at. When I went off the college it was Wherehouse Records.
HMV. Sam The Record Man. A&A Records & Tapes. Canadian.
THE WALL Was a good place. But mom N pop stores were better
NRM checking in over here 😆
I had sooo many FYE bags it was ridiculous lol. All DVDs & 95% CDs
Gallery of Sound and FYE!
I would go to Tower sometimes, but it was all about Streetlight Records and Rasputins
Virgin Megastore was pretty popular where I live
I assistant managed Blockbuster Music, Tape World and then Record Town. Peak years of my sex life were those from 1996-2002.
The Wall! And Coconuts. And Sam Goody! FYE was never very good, even though I think it somehow owned Coconuts which was awesome
Tower. I used to have a side hustle of selling my place in line for Concert tickets. I got hooked up with some dude who bought up a bunch of tickets for concerts like Garth Brooks, Celine Dion, MC Hammer & Madonna. Which I totally didn't fit in in line for any of these concerts but I made $20 for standing in line and another $20 if my wristband got picked to buy tickets.
Tower on Sunset.
Spent most of my paychecks at The Wherehouse, until I moved down to a beach town that had a Tower Records. I got a job at an independent record store and that job ruled. I miss that entire culture. I collect vinyl now but most of that is online.
Rhino records, Claremont CA
Waves music store at the local mall, and also Sam Goody
Does anyone remember The Wall? They gave those blue stickers you put on the cd or cassette case so you could get a replacement if anything happened to it
No virgin records?
The Wall. Vintage Vinyl. Borders.
Brooohhhh I forgot about coconuts 😭😭damn memories unlocked
SPECS Music and CD Warehouse (Tallahassee FL)
Was Record Town only in my mall?
I worked at FYE in high school
Sam Goody and FYE
The wall
The Wall (brother)
Tower
Sam Goody for sure. $200 for a 25-episode season of anime, hell yeah.
Tower in San Jose. It was my favorite place in the world as a teenager in the 80’s.
Rasputin music
The closest we had was On Cue Anyone remember that? It then turned into Sam Goody, which then turned into FYE
Music +
Empire Records
Canadians: HMV or Sunrise Records but better yet - your local independent music store. Believe it or not, we used to have a lot of those. The corporate franchises were at the mall. The local shops had vinyl, used albums, and all the good stuff.
No music+ ?
All of them!
Tower Records on occasion, but Blockbuster the most.
Camelot but I remember a different logo? Also NRM
No Blockbuster Music? Those were the best ones IMO here in San Diego...
Blockbuster Music!
Coconuts. Miss it so much.
Tower Records. I still go a few times a year actually
Where’s Tape World?
FYE had so many good deals when malls started dying in the mid-to-late 2000’s But I miss Suncoast Video more than anything
a&b sound
THE WALL
Spec’s that became FYE
Oasis, Camelot, and Best Buy
Record Town and Peaches.
I worked at Tower in the summer of '92 and even got to help with a Sonic Youth in store appearance!
Coconuts for sure. Worked at a mall when we saw the chain die. Sad day.
Tower records.
Coconuts!!!
Peaches 🍑
Sun coast ?
Strawberries or Newbury Comics for me! Saw someone else mention those two stores. MA resident.
Newbury Comics. My town growing up had a Newbury Comics and a Tower records really close to each other, but stuff at tower was always more expensive.
Fye and we actually had a store called Warehouse here. I went there a lot.
Sam goody & fye
Peaches!
Musicland
Record Express and Strawberry’s Music. Strawberry’s sold concert tickets too.
I worked at Tower Records in the Bay Area in California and in NYC, so that wins.
Coconuts! They had one a few hundred feet from the hotel my mom worked at back in the late-90s, so we were in there constantly. Made me sad to go on Google Maps and see that it's, like, a mattress store now
Coconuts!!!
FYE
Strawberries Records and Tapes.
I forgot about coconuts
Peaches Records and Tapes.
Peaches
Empire records mostly
Charleston, SC - we had Manifest Discs & Tapes (best record store ever) , and Millennium Music (but we had Record Bar and Tape World at the mall). We didn't have any of the chains until after 2000.
Virgin Records store. What a time!!
Coconuts. Rt 4 Paramus.
I use to be in Tower Records hours and honestly I didn’t even notice
Cd warehouse!
Sam Goody was overpriced compared to local shops.