Stores still spin vinyl

At a time when smartphone users can access hundreds of thousands of songs in an instant, stores selling music on vinyl are still flourishing. “There is the excitement of the hunt and chase. You just don’t know what’s going to come next when you flip throu

PHILADELPHIA RECORD EXCHANGE This small store in Philly’s Fishtown neighborhood is a great place for treasure hunting, stocking 78 records and cassettes, along with LPs. “They have really great and weird taste. You can trust that anything you find there is worth a spin or two,” Petrusich says. philarecx.com

END OF ALL MUSIC OXFORD, MISS. Not only does this college town have Square Books, one the country’s greatest book stores, but it has an equally amazing record shop, Petrusich says. When she last visited, she had to leave a sweatshirt behind to make room in her luggage for all the albums she purchased. The staff often features bands from the storied Mississippi Delta region. theendofallmusic.com

BOP STREET RECORDS SEATTLE Owner Dave Voorhees helps make this one of Petrusich’s favorite stores in the country. “He has a crazy encyclopedic knowledge of music in all its forms, a human Pandora algorithm that can synthesize your taste and tell you what you may like,” she says. “Give yourself some time. It’s a big store and it has a huge collection.” bopstreetrecords.com

JERRY’S RECORDS PITTSBURGH The store, one of the few in the Eastern U. S. that stocks 78 records, made headlines several years ago when a 1936 Robert Johnson blues recording, I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom, was discovered here. “It’s extraordinarily rare. It’s always really exciting when people find these intact, playable records,” Petrusich says. Earlier this year, the store made news when it gave away 20,000 records to customers in sealed boxes of 100 albums. jerrysrecords.com

JACKPOT RECORDS PORTLAND, ORE. It’s no surprise the hipster capital of the Northwest would have a great record shop, Petrusich says. “Portland is the kind of town that has a particular sort of affinity toward any kind of archaic or outmoded technology that can be reinterpreted or reappreciated.” Last year the shop bought a collection of 125,000 records and has slowly been putting them out on the floor. jackpotrecords.com

ACADEMY RECORD ANNEX BROOKLYN Petrusich’s local record shop stands out for its knowledgeable staff. “This is a town that loves music and there’s such great music generated. It’s a great place to go and chat with employees,” she says. academy- lps. com

VINTAGE VINYL ST. LOUIS One of the country’s oldest operating record stores opened its doors in 1979, back when a Walkman was considering cutting- edge. Now it supplements its brick- and- mortar shop with an online operation. “They have a big Web presence so you can order if you can’t make it to St. Louis in person,” Petrusich says. vintagevinyl. com

GRIMEY’S NASHVILLE It’s not hard to find music in Music City, but this shop makes it especially easy, hosting band appearances in its main store and running a full- on rock club in the basement. “It’s an off-the- beaten-track venue. They do the most rad insider stuff,” Petrusich says. grimeys.com