Dandelion Records and Emporium

LOVE these guys! Such an awesome shop! I special ordered a bag from Dandelion Emporium and it was a breeze. Helpful and knowledgeable owners. I Highly recommend checking this place out.

I absolutely adore this record store. Every single time I stop by, Tim and his wife are always just extremely, genuinely kind and friendly. They’re both very knowledgeable about all sorts of genres and artists, and it’s easy to see they love what they do! Often times they have introduced me to artists and really good music I’d never heard about before, and usually leave having learned something! The store has a relaxed atmosphere and I always feel very welcome in here.
The store specializes in used vinyl but there do have new records as well. They carry a lot of rare records that you often don’t come across too, which I love!
Stay cool, Dandelion!

The owner guy is a cool dood.

In this age it doesn’t get better than Dandelion. I’m from San Francisco but this is my favorite store by far. Great, tight selection of gems with little filler. The most pleasant and helpful staff in an industry of bored poseurs. The emporium in front is a nice attempt at couples shopping. But my companion was done in 10 minutes while 2 hours wasn’t enough time for me to dig through their vinyl treasures. Highly recommended.

What a gem!
Finally a place where my wife and I can go together while I shop for vinyl, which is the most boring thing for her, and they also have a thoughtfully selected collection of local and global items from glassware, ceramics, tech related accessories, paperware, books, courier bags etc etc.
In the back half of the shop is the vinyl which is (thank you!) well sorted and displayed at the right height so you don’t have to bend down for hours to sort through the LPs. Vinyl pricing can be a little on the high side but on par with Red Cat which is also at the high end, price wise.
The couple who own this place are very kind, helpful and appreciated by the neighbourhood. All the other shoppers coming in seem to be known by name and music taste and it’s a wonderful atmosphere to spend time in.
Highly recommended

Probably the best record store in the city. This shop isn’t about taste making — it is much more about that special psychoses that record collectors have.
The selection goes beyond your average rock band stuff and way beyond the latest imdi-​band craze stuff. The stock is very much about the interests of the owner: take it for what it does well or leave it.

My record player has recently been fixed up so I was in the mood for something new. I didn’t know what I wanted exactly, but a friend recommended Dandelion because he’d found some great bands after they had recommended some stuff to him. Cool.
So I went in and was totally blown away by the awesome customer service I received. The guy working (Hi Tim!) was so enthusiastic and actually played me about 6 different albums, all of which were great, based on me telling him I wanted something «pretty sounding». I ended up getting albums by 2 bands I’d never heard of before, and loving a few more.
The selection seems good. I did a lot of browsing before I asked for any advice. I saw a lot of albums that I thought were pretty rare. But maybe not. I mean, what the hell do I know anyway? I asked for something «pretty sounding».
Anyway, I’ll totally be back for some more sweet tunes.

This place is part record store, part gift store that sells teas, bath items and fancy journals. The emporium portion fascinates me as I like buying girly and gifty things, however, if I was specifically looking for that I would head to Front and Co or Barefoot Contessa. The disadvantage is that this store literally splits the focus, therefore, the supply is limited in both departments. It has a lot of potential if it was either one of the other. I enjoy coming in here to browse as they play the coolest music in the background. The shop guys are nice to talk to, however, I never actually bought any records from here. I have spend a good portion sifting through their collection.
It is a clean looking store that screams pretentious, however, the shop dudes make you feel relaxed.
If you’re looking for a good Smith’s re-​issue for that bubble bath and tea, this is the place. Just make sure not to take the razor blade with you in the tub and we’re all good.
The cool thing about the store being split, which works in their favour: Girls stay in the front of the store and can entertain themselves while the boyfriends shop for records in the back. I’ve been to so many record stores in girlfriend were reluctantly being dragged by their BF’s.
Boyfriends take note, you can now reward your girlfriend in the same store for spending so much time looking at records by buying that bubble bath that she was eyeing.
As for the prices of the record themselves, they seem comparative, however, some seem overly priced for stuff way too common, even for the condition that it is in.

If I were a different, non-​exploring type of person, I’d never check out Dandelion. The «record» portion of the store is enough to make me curious, but it’s the emporium portion that makes me wander in.
Rightfully, I can’t speak about the vinyl selection found here (though I’ve heard it’s decent), but I know what I know and know Muji when I see it. This is a gift shop — you know, the place where one would find something that isn’t necessarily needed, but will always be appreciated by the receiver. It’s a carefully curated collection of cute and semi-​useful well-​designed products (Pendleton roll-​up blanket, anyone?) that are enough to make me stop in again and again. I’ve purchased countless — well, three — iPhone cases here, each one totally unique and each one I love more than the last; and if I had just a bit more monies, I’d probably have that Pendleton blanket too.
It’s a gift shop, and I think it’s dandy.

I love this place. The vinyl selection is quite focussed and any jazz, new wave, punk or progrock fan is going to find a jewel.
The general merchandise is beautiful, tasteful and also really well curated. You can rest assued that everything in the store is there for a reason, and nothing is junk or something you’ll find everywhere else.
Nice folks, and you’ll always hear some music that’s new to you.

Never a vinyl fan, this place catches my attention every time I pass. I just cant help but going in.
Whoever’s the buyer has got my taste down to a T. Filled with an eclectic mix of new age design pieces and some great paper product you always make me take a look.
Congrats on supporting Carga, Dominic Wilcox and the like.

Is it weird to say I liked their old space better? The typical 4 walls covered in vinyls and shelves and shelves of vinyl really seemed like nothing special, but when I went record shopping I wanted to listen, not see. And they (still) have a lot of great stuff to listen to.
The «new» location of Dandelion has the most eclectic taste Ive seen in any shop. They fill the front of the shop up with an interesting selection of small press publications about such quirks as the zombie apocalypse and fixed gear bike culture, and then the back with records that are normally impossible to find. Lots of re-​issues here, from distributors that are normally loathe to give us Canadians re-​issues, but at prices that reflect that we dont get much of this stuff North of the border. Honestly, if it wasnt for the difficulty in getting distribution up here, most of these records would not even be rare, or in demand enough to charge $ 25 (minimum) for them. But thats wishful thinking, and Dandelion does charge $ 25 for each one of them. I wish I could spend with my heart here, instead of my wallet, but I dont. So since I cant find anything too affordable, I usually resign myself to looking, and hoping for Christmas/​my birthday/​something similar.
Oh, lest we forget about record store day, happening on the 17^th of this month! They have great sales for this yearly event, making it totally worth going (even if they cant host any concerts at this space).

Alright, boys in the back, girls in the front! With a well organized selection of vinyl in the back and books, accessories, cards, alarm clocks, gadgets and gizmos beautifully arranged at the front, Dandelion always deserves a little browse about.
Mostly I get caught up in the book selection. Perhaps you’ve got a friend who loves to make things — they’ve got crafty. Maybe the sight of an entire pictorial exploration of «Chinglish» tickles you. Don’t worry, you in good hands very. :p
Picking up some greeting cards here is a beautiful idea too. Lots of them are locally made by The Beautiful Project. They’re the reason why I religiously turn cards over to see who crafted it.
Prices for some objects in the gismo area are a little higher than what I’d pay for myself, but the books and cards are on par with the Chapters and Hallmarks of the world.

You know what the coolest thing about this shop is? A couple can shop together :-) Girls will prefer the front of the shop with all the cute gifty items, really cool notebooks, mobiles, lamps, games, and art, and…
Vinyl nerds ALERT! record albums at the back. What a concept!
I found the perfect cottage gift. Do you remember the game Jenga? Well they have one with bones heh-​heh!

I was fortunate enough to walk right into the Dandelion Emporium’s Grand Opening this afternoon! I was offered champagne and snacks and was invited to take a look around this distinctive little shop. The proprietor of Dandelion is also the owner of Dandelion Records around the corner. After congratulating Laura Frederick on her recent business opening, I wandered about to find some very interesting gifts and accessories. Handmade felt and leather bags with unisex appeal hang aside stunning bone china with gold leaf inlay and delicious scented candles. Beautiful plates and matching cups with pretty, elegant printed birds and flora would look fab with a set of napkins from Moma (that being, the Museum of Modern Art in NYC). Dandelion also offered up an intriguing selection of coffee-​table and quirky general interest books, like how to create guerrilla art. A number of quality stationary items, from pens to journals and notepads rounds out some very neat accessories.
Nothing like sipping on champagne, shopping and thinking of what I’m going to scribble in my new Moleskin.