Ear Candy: Winston’s record stores serve up the tunes
By Ethan Dougherty
Contributing Reviewer

> February 16, 2001

As college students with high-speed Internet access around the country learn that their beloved Napster is indeed infringing on copyright law, the grim prospect of once again having to actually pay for music looms large. Fear not, for Winston-Salem has a fairly diverse array of music stores. There are little, homey, John-Cusack-in-High-Fidelity ones, and there are large, sterile, Orwellian discount stores. I have attempted to rank some of them, but their differences make a concrete comparison nearly impossible.

The only store I would describe as dismal would be Waves Music in Hanes Mall. They carry what you hear on the radio. That’s about it. At almost $18 a CD, it’s expensive; the staff is neither friendly nor knowledgeable, and it is located in that Mecca of crummy consumerism: the mall. The Ticketmaster outlet they operate is the only reason one should ever set foot in this store unless one is looking for a Britney Spears T-shirt, which they have. As for music, there’s no used section and there’s nothing rare. I cannot give a strong enough recommendation to avoid this store. Avoid the mall in general; I believe Satan sleeps under a table in the food court.

Next on the list would be Best Buy, the electronics and entertainment behemoth. It is quite possible that all the other stores I visited did not have the combined inventory that this Hanes Mall Boulevard establishment had. This place had serious selection. Imports, singles, strange compilations. However, the name Best Buy is a bit of a misnomer. Those rare imports could be anywhere as high as $40. One has to question the logic of paying an extra $25 for one extra track.

Service also leaves much to be desired. There are a lot of employees milling around, but when I asked them questions they gave me the distinct impression I was intruding on their leisurely day. Your extra money sure isn’t paying for atmosphere; buying music at Best Buy is like being in a grocery. The high white ceilings and surveillance cameras add to a very uninviting environment, but if it’s a rare recording from a mainstream artist, Best Buy has your number.

Taking second place on my honor roll of record stores is the Record Exchange, located on Hanes Mall Boulevard across from the mall. The Record Exchange is the stereotypical small music store. The clerks wear Pink Floyd T-shirts, and the selection is eclectic. There’s not a whole lot of discs here, but there is an interesting assortment of stuff. They sell vinyl, mostly hip-hop screaming for some turntable love.

There is a fairly large local music section with a varied selection. The Record Exchange is reasonably priced, with most stuff around $13 or $14. The used section constitutes about half of the store, which is great if you like saving money. Most used discs are well under 10 bucks, a substantial savings. The staff couldn’t be any friendlier or more knowledgeable. I bought a CD of live material by the Eels for eight bucks. It seemed new and looked legit, but I can’t find this album anywhere online. It’s a treasure, as is this little store. A larger inventory would easily propel the Record Exchange into the top spot on my list.

However, top honors go to Music Wherehouse, which is adjacent to Hanes Mall, behind Chili’s. Although nothing about this store is truly outstanding, it is the happiest medium of all the locations I visited. It has a large used section with discs as cheap as $5 and not many more expensive than $8. The new section is large and fairly extensive, even containing some imports, with most CDs running at about $16. Every time I go in, they’re playing something good, and the employees always tries to save you a little cash by offering you the used version of your purchase.

The staff is usually very helpful and courteous. However, when I was working on this story, I ran into a slight problem. I bought a couple of used CDs, and as I went out the door, the alarm went off. The girl who sold me the discs just smiled and waved me through, but just as I was getting to my car, I heard someone yelling at me. The night manager then proceeded to lead me back into the store by my arm and made me walk through the scanner repeatedly until it was painfully obvious that I was clean. I will never forget the indignant looks of my fellow patrons; I think that someone spat at me but missed. This one degrading incident is enough for me not to give the Music Wherehouse a sterling recommendation.