sleepysurf
Well-known member
I was living in Pittsburgh from 1986-89, in the early days of the CD revolution, and a budding audiophile friend and I frequented a little hole-in-the-wall record store... called Jerry's Records. Those were the days when Wayne Green published CD Review, and we'd browse the boxes of incoming cut-rate CD's at Jerry's for gems, like DMP's Flim and the BB's, and Sheffield and Telarc stuff. I think I bought my first 100 CD's at Jerry's, and always assumed the store was long gone by now. You can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this post on Steve Guttenberg's Audiophiliac Blog. It really made my day! Interesting that he's transitioned to selling only vinyl these days!
Pittsburgh's $3-a-pop vinyl treasure trove
Posted by Steve Guttenberg
Jerry's looks small on the outside...
(Credit: Paul DiComo)
I keep hearing about how the LP is having a comeback, and that's great, but Jerry's Records has been keeping the faith for more than thirty-three years selling used vinyl in Pittsburgh, PA. I spoke with Jerry (Weber) himself last week to learn more about his shop.
It's a big place, with 13,000 square feet filled with LPs and there's a 16,000 square foot off-site warehouse with even more stuff. Jerry says 70 to 80 percent of his inventory is priced around $3. So clearly, he's not dealing in the rarities or the collector market, no, Jerry just likes selling vinyl. In fact, he never sold new vinyl. BTW, the store doesn't buy, sell or play CDs, Jerry's is all-analog, all the time.
But it's BIG on the inside
(Credit: Paul DiComo)
Jerry buys 2,000 to 5,000 LPs a week, cleans each one, and puts them in new plastic inner sleeves. Scratched and beat up records are weeded out, packed in boxes of 100 and given away for free. Sounds like good fodder for vinyl art or sculpture.
There's tonnage of $3-a-pop rock, jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, gospel, E-Z listening, Latin, soul, funk, R&B, folk, comedy, soundtracks, etc. Jerry said, "It looks like I'm going to be the last man standing (selling affordable used LPs), a lot of guys don't want to sell the $3 records anymore. I want people to come here and look at records, that's what it's all about."
Need a turntable, cassette deck or speakers?
(Credit: Paul DiComo)
Pittsburgh's $3-a-pop vinyl treasure trove
Posted by Steve Guttenberg
(Credit: Paul DiComo)
I keep hearing about how the LP is having a comeback, and that's great, but Jerry's Records has been keeping the faith for more than thirty-three years selling used vinyl in Pittsburgh, PA. I spoke with Jerry (Weber) himself last week to learn more about his shop.
It's a big place, with 13,000 square feet filled with LPs and there's a 16,000 square foot off-site warehouse with even more stuff. Jerry says 70 to 80 percent of his inventory is priced around $3. So clearly, he's not dealing in the rarities or the collector market, no, Jerry just likes selling vinyl. In fact, he never sold new vinyl. BTW, the store doesn't buy, sell or play CDs, Jerry's is all-analog, all the time.
(Credit: Paul DiComo)
Jerry buys 2,000 to 5,000 LPs a week, cleans each one, and puts them in new plastic inner sleeves. Scratched and beat up records are weeded out, packed in boxes of 100 and given away for free. Sounds like good fodder for vinyl art or sculpture.
There's tonnage of $3-a-pop rock, jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, gospel, E-Z listening, Latin, soul, funk, R&B, folk, comedy, soundtracks, etc. Jerry said, "It looks like I'm going to be the last man standing (selling affordable used LPs), a lot of guys don't want to sell the $3 records anymore. I want people to come here and look at records, that's what it's all about."
(Credit: Paul DiComo)
