Off the Record

Glad they got another owner. This is a good record store and has a great variety of CDs and LPs. Saw a large country and rock selection… brand new Boz Scaggs LP as well. 25c 45s and a not-​bad DVD collection, going from $ 3.99 to $ 6.99. Picked up a film with Michael Douglas called «The Sentinel» here. Staff is nice.

I sold 5 of my records to them. Very nice and they took all of them but only took 4 of them for .50 each and one 2 Lp for 1.00 even though thats 4.50 the lady actually gave 5.00. I looked around and git some good cassettes and one amy grant vinyl.

Helpful staff, a growing collection of the best vinyl, a great selection of both new and used CDs, movies, and collectibles. If you have good items to sell, they’ll give a good price on them. Glad they’ve stayed in business despite all the changes in the music industry.

As a youth I learned about much of the music I like through Off the Record. «I like… what sounds like???» The people working there knew their music and genres well because what I liked was fairly obscure back then and could always recommend something interesting. My favourite band came from one of their suggestions.
I would say my pre-​17 year old music collection, 80% came from this one store, and back then finding what I liked as very hard.
I am happy to hear that they have managed to keep up the same level of excellent service that I remember from so long ago.

I loved the selection here… this place has a ton of used stuff. and I loved the prices. I thought their staff was extra friendly and offered to help us find stuff a few times. Tony mostly checked out the gospel section and I was drawn to the heavy metal section, myself. Although we didn’t buy anything, I would come back here in a heartbeat!

Pretty decent selection here. My girlfriend was in heavy metal heaven while I was in the gospel section.
Next time I am here I will buy some CDs to listen to on my long drive home.
Zipzap Zubidy Bop!

YES! I found it: my very own High Fidelity à la John Cusack-​esque record store (out here in eastern Washington!).
So this little joint has been on my radar for months. After seeing so many rave reviews, and after recently getting reacquainted with a turntable, I had to make a stop.
Like a good little boy, I walked in with the best of intentions. I wanted to check out the place and stay on budget (maybe spend twenty bucks). I made a bee-​line for the used vinyl section — it’s in the back corner to the left. OH CRAP! Man, they had a plethora of records! Al Green, Beatles, Sade (almost pooped my pants on that one), Neil Young — dang! And their prices were totally on point. Decisions, decisions. My first batch was about 10 albums. I then weeded it down to about 7, then 5.
«Ok coreyg, now go straight to the register and cash out,» said my generally-​ignored conscience.
Nope. Didn’t happen.
I went to the international section. I ended up finding a timba (Cuban Salsa) cd used for only $ 3!
«Ok. Now corey! GET OUT!,» screamed my slightly-​peeved inner voice.
I actually did. At this point I did make my way to pay, but then the guy workin’ there saw my stack and mentioned all the NEW albums they have, and how they’re on sale. DOUBLE DANG. So, the guy kept my stack of stuff, and I checked out the other records. A Radiohead & Amy Winehouse album later, and I was ready to go.
Original Budget: $ 20
Out The Door Total: ~$ 100 (but dude, I had like 9 albums & two CDs which I totally wanted! Yes, I have a problem.)
: ADDITIONAL NOTES :
1) Oh, I should mention that the guy ringing me DID also hook me up with tons of free sh! t. He gave me a handful of cool promo cds, and also some promo albums. Man, I thought I was winning big on The Price Is Right!
2) They also have a decent selection of used DVDs (but they didn’t have what I was looking for: The Truth About Cats & Dogs… yeah, I have a crush on Janeane Garofalo, is that a problem whichoo?!?)
3) You can get Seattle’s «The Stranger» before Seattlites! Yup, that’s how we roll on the REAL East Siiiide! I kid. But I found out that The Stranger gets printed in Yakima and that Off The Record gets copies before they are sent over to Seattle — so, if you want to cruise for concerts, new movies, etc. – you’re set.

It’s not very often that I make my way back up to Yakima, usually only when I’m on vacation. But I make a point to stop by Off the Record every time I’m back in town, because they still have one of the best music selections that I’ve ever seen. Off the Record was the 80’s and 90’s version of ITunes; you could (and still can) find just about anything you’re looking for. If you can’t, the staff can order it for you; they’ve even managed to special order CDs for me that I couldn’t find on Ebay or Amazon. And being a die-​hard metal head, the sheer selection of heavy metal CDs alone stands as a testament to this store’s greatness!

Whenever I buy CD’s locally, this is where I go.
Friendly, knowledgeable staff, who often make good suggestions after hearing what you’re looking for– if they don’t have what you’re looking for they will order it for you.
Used CD’s are a great deal, I’ve purchased quite a few and never had any problems.

This place is great. You can find pretty much whatever you want here. The staff is knowledgeable but surly, exactly what I expect from an independent record store. I get a little bit lost looking for stuff, but that’s not a bad thing. Hands-​down the best music shop in Yakima.

Now, I’ve traveled to quite a few cities, and visited numerous indie record shops in my day. Off the Record remains in my top 5, for the simple joy it gave me growing up. The selection is quite vast, rather diverse and interesting, and you will almost always find something you’ve never heard of. The joy came in sifting through those shelves not thinking you’re going to find anything of interest, due to the city it is found in. Yakima was never really known for being very big into any music scene, until about ’00-’04, and even then, we all lamented over our misfortune in living in a town with so many uncultured yahoos. How could anyone, living in this city, have an awesome CD you’ve never heard of, and just HAPPEN to sell it to this one tiny, hole in the wall record store?
Every time I would find something awesome in the mass of the every day CDs everyone’s heard of, I had a hard time containing my joy. Off the Record may be small, have creaky floors, and sometimes you might pass by a fellow patron and get a whiff of something funky, but damnit, it’s the most comfortable record store I’ve ever been to, and I have a hard time finding larger, more well-​lit establishments of its kind, to fit anywhere into my heart.