I love a good music store. Such stores are few and far between, mainly due to a shift in how we…read morelisten to music. We are more into streaming it than physically owning a copy in some form, be it digitally as music files, or on a CD or record. Frankly, I've adopted both methods. I stream music wherever I have a wifi connection. However, at home, my music collection is a combination of digital files from my years being an iPod fan (the best device to go on a road trip and bring your own music without thinking about data charges), and playing albums on my record or CD player. I was recently in Leslieville, waiting for a pizza order. It would take thirty minutes for the pizza to bake. You can't rush a good thing. I decided to take a stroll around the area. I found In the Groove. I was first elated to see a music store full of records (vinyl to those who like that hip term), CDs, cassettes, and more. My heart sank when I saw that this store was closing for good. Wait a minute, though. A man walked out of the store. Is it really closed? I stood in front of the store and read every posted sign. The closing date was January 31st, 2023. It was February. I looked at the other sign that said that the closing sale was held over. Yes! I still had mixed emotions. It's always sad to see a music store close. I went in to check it out. I am the type that I can spend hours in a music store, looking at everything and ending up buying some good albums to add to my collection. I only had fifteen minutes before I had to leave and fetch dinner. It was the best fifteen minutes and I made it count. A man behind the counter said hi to me. We would later trade first names. I got Sheldon's business card, who is the owner of this fine business for 25 years. He lives in Richmond Hill. We both talked about how it does take a bit of time to get to Leslieville from York region. I found two albums that caught my attention. The first was Duran Duran's Seven and the Ragged Tiger. It's a classic. It was my first cassette tape purchase in my life. I still have it. I want to return and get the record version. There were two copies of the album in the store. What I settled for instead was Peter Cetera's Solitude Solitaire. I have always enjoyed listening to his music, either with Chicago or his solo work. I oddly did not own anything by him until I decided to get this album. The downside was that I did not come prepared with cash. Sheldon said that he had disconnected his payment machine the prior month and only accepts cash. He let me know that there was an ATM machine down the road. He asked how much the album in my hand was. It was going for $8. He was generous to offer it for $5 if I had cash. If you know me, it is rare that I have cash on hand. I had a $5 and a twoonie. So rare. He didn't want the latter. He was fine with $5. I got a $5 album from a generous man. He saw that love for music that we both shared. His kind gesture meant a lot. Besides being a music lover, Sheldon is a professional photographer. He told me that he has loved what he has done over the years. The pandemic caused him to lose a ton of money having his store closed. Although he originally had the end of January as his closing date, he is playing it by ear and will decided at the end of this month whether he is done for good. I need to drop again by before it shutters for good. I am hoping that his store is still around a bit longer. It's a gem, with 45 and 78 RPM records that I still need to explore. Part of me wishes that I had found this store sooner. However, I'm glad that I did recently. I met a nice man behind the business who sold me an album than now has more meaning than meets the eye. (45)

Sheldon is super friendly and chatty. I didn't find anything that I wanted, but my friend joyfully…read morebrowsed the plethora of records and ended up taking four home. While he was browsing, Sheldon kept me entertained, and another regular customer came in and joined the conversation. I can see why the other reviewers found him too busy to help since he's so chatty, but it's fine to interrupt him. He's just that neighborhood shopkeeper that enjoys chatting with customers, not necessary the corporate employee who maintains professionalism at all times. Stop by and find a good record, or just go chat with Sheldon.

Awesome gem tucked away in downtown Toronto area! Owner and…read morehis shop have been around for years..! Found a couple great dub records and even a 7" Of my own NoCal punk band! Awesome hang and highly recommend to anyone looking to dig through some bins!

Very rude female staff. Absolutely no care for customer service, with a passive-aggressive…read moreattitude. Owner himself is a nice gentleman and offers good prices with a great collection of records and cds. Too bad he got this female staff who just destroyed his business. After the nasty encounter with the female staff, I will no longer want to return to this store again. Owner needs to beware of what this fenale staff is doing to his business. Such a pity and a waste.

Honest down to earth knowledgeable owner. Very helpful. He will order stuff if he doesn't have it…read morebut he has a lot of good stuff with reasonable prices

Being the ONLY record store in Mississauga for over 20 years is reason enough to award Ric's…read moreRecollections a 5-star, but after a long awaited person visit on my behalf I finally got to shop Ric's insane collection of records! Moving to a larger location on Port Credit's East side (about 1 km east of Hurontario), about 4 years has allowed for Ric's to expand their offerings and inventory to a point where you feel like you've traveled back in time to the 60's/70's to go record shopping. All the classics are there... like all of them! If you're a true audiophile, this is the place to be. I spend almost an hour doing a 'quick' skim of the categories that interested me most. Ric's has got a lot of vintage vinyl going from $6 up to $35-$40, there's something from every genre, category and generation on his shelves. That said, if you're looking for something old... brand new, he's got an expansive collection of re-releases and pressings that he keeps on regular order. These can range in price from $25 to over $100 depending on the album. For those still loving the smooth skip skip skip sound of CD's, Ric's has a good helping of these as well. I didn't choose to browse because if I want digital music, I'll download it from itunes, plain and simple. But if you're still a fan of the old compact disc, I'd swing by here and check them out! Today I picked up a Best of the Beatles 1967-1970, Kick by INXS and Blue Train by John Coltrane! I can't wait to get them home to listen!

For vinyl aficionados, Cosmo West Records is a great place to find hard-to-music…read more For lovers of jazz, soul, rock, psychedelic and blues, this little shop is a must stop for collectors but be warned: you can easily spend a fortune here. I know, I've done this. Its owner, Aki Abe, is a true vinyl fan who knows his product and scours record shops locally and around the world, buying quality records. He is an encyclopedia when it comes to the type of record, its stamp, the issue, etc. His friendly and welcoming personality invites his customers to ask him questions and once he gets to know your style and interests, he'll even suggest artists that you might like, which is a great salesman tactic. While I have heard some people mention that the prices listed at Cosmo West are on the expensive side. Much of their items are rare and limited editions, but it's certainly competitive to other shops in the area. It's also a good place to find that one-of-a-kind gem you've been looking for. Be sure to also check out its sister store down the street for hip-hop, soul, and rap records.

I stopped in Cosmos on a 5 hour whirlwind tour of record shops in Toronto today (went to…read morePandemonium, Good Music, Cosmos, and both Kops). This is a five-star shop except for a few issues. They have records that nobody else has. First pressings of Andrew Hill's Blue Note albums. Japanese imports of free and soul jazz. Private pressings with Don Cherry as a player... what!?! I bought two records (I didn't ask how much the Andrew Hill records were, just to avoid the temptation). One was a Hannibal Peterson Japan-only release for $60. That's cheaper than you can get it on Discogs or Ebay once you factor shipping, and I got to listen to it before buying. So really it was a good deal. The other was a $20 Mal Waldron Trio record, import from Germany on Enja. That's a very reasonable price, I've paid $30 and more for similarly rare Enja releases. The only reason I don't give the fifth star: 1. If an album is over $50 then I'd like to have it cleaned. He has a record cleaning machine and the really expensive stuff had been washed from what I could tell, but I'd like to see $50 as the threshold for a nice cleaning. 2. Some records were more than I would expect given the pressing. A United Artists era pressing of Jackie Mclean Demon's Dance was about twice the Popsike average. 3. The turntable at the listening station had some issues. The cuing lever was not functioning, so I had to hand cue. I trust myself to do this (I do it at home), but I hate to think of how many records have been gouged by others.

I couldn't possibly say enough to adequately sum up the quality of this shop. A true neighbourhood…read moregem that deserves to be on the shortlist of best in the city. First: a lovely vibe inside, an impeccable collection of records, and friendly, knowledgeable staff. But where Tonality TRULY shines is their unsurpassed customer service and expert-level hi-fi offerings. Julian and Tino go above and beyond with their repairs and vintage gear sales to ensure a truly top-tier experience across the board. They worked diligently with me to troubleshoot a particularly fussy piece of old equipment (an SA-700, which is now purring), and found the perfect set of speakers to compliment the 1978 receiver. If you need old gear fixed, if you're in the market for your first-ever stereo setup, if you need a modern reissue or a rare pressing ... RUN, don't walk.

I knew you'd comment back because you're absolutely desperate for ratings. You deserved a piece of…read moremy mind and this wasn't about "restoring a nice piece" you wasted my time on several occasions and you just didn't want to admit it and completely gaslit me on several occasions including your response here on yelp, which is not accurate... and were always rude. I settled for your lowball offer 25% of what I bought it from you for, (~$650 after tax) and you wasted my time yet again after you said you'd take it and didn't. It's in a nice home now, but not because of tonality. Like I said, shop anywhere but here. Owner Julian doesn't belong in the record business. Just another price gouging business owner capitalizing of the recent record boom. There's plenty of cooler stores with more reasonable prices down the street! Have a great day! (Everyone else)

I come here everytime I have an order of DVD's & Cd's! Wade who works there is always friendly with…read moreme as well as the other employees!!! It's good if you want to get old/vintage CD's, DVD's, Blu Rays, & Videos Games. I would really recommend it!!!

I've had 2 big boxes of dvds to get rid of for some time. Found Deja's Vu and made the drive from…read moreBrampton. Yep that's dedication lol. Let's start, you walk in and there is a bit of a musty smell. It's not a very big place. I was amazed that they sell vinyls. Must come back to check those out. The girls took my two boxes along with my name and number. Had to wait about an hour. At the end they took a total of one box and I got some mulla!! Sweettt!!!!! Check it out if you're trying to sell or find a classic.

Great records great prices! They moved from sammon to a new location at 1374 Queen St E!read more

I have been buying vinyl from Baxter's for a few months and I always find good quality used…read morerecords. Owner is very friendly and his prices are very reasonable. Only open on Saturdays 12-5. Give this place a try you won't be disappointed.

Currently, you enter the store on the left and exit on the right and there is hand sanitizer at the…read moretable when you enter. This is a small store filled with DVDs (movies, tv shows, animes), games (jenga, Super Mario, Pac-Man & Dragon Ball Z versions of Monopoly, etc), toys (miniature versions of Silly Putty, Etch A Sketch, Lite Brite, etc), CDs (I believe K-pop CDs are in the pop section alphabetically and don't have their own section), vinyl, t-shirts (bands and anime), socks and more. The staff working was busy organizing items but made sure to welcome me to the store and ask if I needed help finding anything.

Well, the Sunrise Records name has been around since 1977 according to the sign behind the customer…read morecheckout. I know it has gone through a resurgence with acquisition of some assets of the former HMV music stores. Today, vinyl has made a comeback and my sister has given me her whole collection opting for the convenience of digital music. I'm browsing through the store today with a co-worker to see what's here. Besides vinyl records & turntables, there are gifts like mugs, posters, T-shirts and DVD's. Checkout was quick and courteous.