Conveniently located in downtown Champaign near the Illinois Terminal (Amtrak, MTD buses) and a…read morestone's throw from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, Exile on Main Street has a fantastic selection of new and previously loved vinyl, CDs, cassette tapes, and more. I recently met the owner, Jeff Brandt, at the store while my partner was on the hunt for Taylor Swift and Charli XCX vinyls. Jeff was immediately attentive and we struck up conversations about Taylor Swift, the positives and areas of improvement downtown Champaign could use, the area's history as a musical mecca, and much more. It was easy to see how much love and sweat equity he's put into the community and the store. An adjacent vintage store has closed but Exile regularly hosts pop-ups, underscoring its community-first vibes. When you're looking for vinyl finds, skip online, Target and chains and support institutions like Exile on Main!

This is the THE record store to visit in Champaign-Urbana. Yeah, there's Record Swap if you want…read moreused classic rock or See You Vinyl with their dozens of records, but Exile is the place to be. The store itself has an interesting layout that promotes exploration and discovery. There's a nice mix of used and new vinyl, (mostly used) CDs, and even some cassettes and VHS tapes. I'd say Exile's strengths are all things indie, major artists from the 90s onward, classic rock, and a bunch of niche stuff. I like to find reissues of 90s and 00s electronic stuff there, and they typically stock new jazz releases from Blue Note and some of the other big labels (not a huge selection, but everything they have is good). Of course, this is just my perception. You'll find each genre well represented. If you don't see what you want, the owner is happy to get it for you. He's a great guy with a deep knowledge of music. He actually has a whole section that he's selling from his personal collection, which is an interesting category. It's like a bunch of great titles that have been out of circulation for a long time. Overall, this is a fun place to find good music. Check it out.

Be careful if you are taking things in to sell. Be VERY careful. Not the best place to sell things…read more In fact, a BAD place. The buyers, though, will find almost everything they are looking for. Usually, the prices are good. But forget about the "swap" part. A very uneven playing field that.

I was incredibly impressed with the selection of new vinyl, and the selection of vintage vinyl was…read morepretty good too. Staff seemed friendly and polite, everything was clean and organized. The issue is the pricing. I prefer to buy in a store and support independent record stores and small businesses. I have my limits though. Not sure how he can get away with charging 20-300% more than other sellers. My record store day I bought for $26 he had for $45, my RSD I got for 35 he had for 50. The Zappa broadcast I bought for $8 new sealed he wanted $40 for, another I got for $13 sealed he wanted $40 as well. Most the vintage vinyl was worth half what it was priced at. I know you've got to pay the rent and I know prices are higher brick and mortar, but why are your prices higher than stores in downtown Chicago? Highest priced store I've ever been to, and I'm a traveler, I go to a LOT of record stores. I could have easily bought a couple dozen albums if they were even 20% cheaper, but I left with nothing and very sad that I had to pass on so much good stuff. I guess you can build a pretty epic collection if you don't price things to actually sell...Went online and bought what I wanted for 30-50% less than he wanted. Didn't feel good about it, but I'm not going to be ripped off just to support indie record stores...

While I'm not an indie fan, my girlfriend is. (When I introduced her to Parasol, she wanted to move…read moreinto their hard-to-find storefront-slash-warehouse.) I don't know much about the label or mail order business at all, but I can safely say that Parasol's storefront carries the best, and extremely well-edited, selection in town for indie and punk vinyl, CDs, and DVDs. Just the latter alone! You can buy the Kill Rock Stars Video Fanzine III, live performances from Coachella, and documentaries about freestyling, K Records, or even that one about early California hardcore, which features far too much footage of TSOL. There are also bins full of seven-inches, and a decent-sized collection of $1 vinyl and CDs. Much time could be successfully killed here. Anywhere I can buy the A-Frames Black Forest LP, and peruse seemingly endless back issues of Mojo, is aces in my book. They'll also special order anything you want, which means that I won't have to save my shopping list for trips to Chicago's Reckless!

From the owner: Record shop, record store, vinyl records, CDs, music magazines, DVDs , Blu-Rays, CD replication and…read moreprinting.

Came through in my way to Chicago, decent selection and good prices. They used the small space very…read morewell and had a very chill aesthetic. Jesse was very nice and recommended a new album based off what I liked. He was very nice and humble and it was easy to talk to him. I will be coming back! -Cy

This review is about my experience, plus constructive feedback that can be used to make this shop…read morebetter. While I love digging through the stacks at local record shops, I have experienced much better. I've been through quite a number of fantastic record stores in my lifetime, so I have expectations on how a record store should be (even for smaller and newer shops that may just be starting out). I root for local record stores and encourage them to do their best. I've been here, Record Swap, and Exile, and I find Record Swap is the best one. Let me start off by saying I did leave with the purchase of two records today. The shop wasn't terrible, but I do think it was lacking a bit. I understand building up a quality stock takes time, but given the amount of time this store had been around, I expected just a little more. Some selections are spot on with the prices, while other selections aren't worth the $5+ as they look like they've been pulled from thrift stores and $1 bins elsewhere. The layout of the store was decent for the size space, but how the stock was "organized" was honestly a bit of a choppy mess. For the size store, I'd honestly shrink down the "new arrivals" spot significantly and put the items where they're supposed to go. This will make browsing so much smoother (only bring in a bigger new arrivals spot when you've got much more merchandise coming in). Do away with the boards you've got taking up a wall. You may have a passion about them, but they don't belong in a record store, nor will people use Google to look you up if they're in the market for a board... it's just not expected to be found in that type of store. Use that space for more music merchandise, which is expected to be found in this store. Move your cash register to the bar that was built into the spot. This makes the extra merchandise ready for sale behind bar moved to another spot and easier to get to. These are just some of the key changes that could made to make this shop 100x better, instead of adding injury to your name, and will help you take off.

I used to go here at least once a week to check out new music. As I'd climb the stairs from Green…read moreStreet, they'd always have something cool playing, with the jacket displayed at the counter. Checking through the bargain bins one day in 1975, I found a copy of Buckingham Nicks for a couple bucks. I'd been going through Fleetwood Mac withdrawals with no new albums, so I bought it. Another time, the sound of Chameleon greeted me, and I just had to buy Herbie Hancock's groundbreaking Headhunters album, take it home and learn the keyboard parts. Record Factory workers were always on top of new releases and bands, and could always direct you to what you were looking for. I suspect they've kept that work ethic into the CD era. Highly recommended.

Great B&N! It's huge and has a great selection of new books. Store was very tidy and checkout was…read morevery quick.

Overpriced book. The rudest employees you'll ever meet. Non accurate website. There needs to be…read moresome major changes to Barnes and Nobles policies and pricing before I ever consider buying from them again. The member system barely saves you any money. If you use Barnes and Nobles to find new books to read, don't buy them from the store, buy them from amazon or other cheaper online sellers. Some people may not care about paying extra to buy from Barnes and Noble, but I'm not one of those people. I once asked about price matching and the employee looked at me like I was dumb. I mean the sales people and cashiers here are the absolute WORST I've ever been around at any business! Seriously, take your business elsewhere, it's not worth it.

This store has absolutely everything you need and mores my first time visit I was primarily…read moreupstairs getting EIU gear. I didn't really check out the rest of the store. This time was a different story. I walked don't the entire first floor and boy was I surprised! They have sage, crystals, jewelry, dream catchers, Greek supplies, tshirts, posters, records, etc. I really can go on and on. This store meets both your spiritual needs and eiu swag needs lol. Service was great. I had question about some crystals. The young man working let me know he didn't know much about crystals but his girlfriend did and she would at work the next day. I went the next day and she surely knew about crystals. She answered all of my questions and more. I really like this store! And everything is reasonably priced.

if ur looking for some crystals they definitely have them, also lots of records and incense ^_^read more

Great independent music or record stores are getting harder to find. It often will be in a college…read moretown when you come across it. North Street Records is in such a town. Hard to find records and other artifacts. The staff certainly knows a lot about what they have, and will help find something. As in places like this, the music is the main thing of course. It has a lot to look through. They, as the name implies, specialize in vinyl. Great place to find more popular artists. Or more obscure. Also despite the name they also have other forms of music such as CDs. These like the records also are obsolete so might as well have these. Has a big collection of new and old items. It seems most people come in and just look around, but some people actually buy something. The main thing is the vinyl.

I talked with Jeff. He's a really knowledgeable cool human. I felt he offered fair prices for the…read morerecords I brought in...my childhood memories. He's honest with you. Which I find commendable. He is responsible in recycling, reusing, up-cycling records that can't be used anymore. I had a really great experience. I do need to say the I know nothing about records...but I can imagine he has an amazing selection.

This shop is New York-level. Impressive selection, eclectic and eye-catching decor, wonderful…read morearray of art (including local artists), utterly charming atmosphere. If it were in the Village, I'm sure I'd be going all the time. The folks behind it have impeccable taste, and their hearts are clearly in the right place. I wish them much success.

I have watched the growth of Bobzbay Books through the years and marvel at the innovative and trend…read moresetting promotions they have sponsored over time.

Not really sure what to make of this place. I don't really have a need for large quantities of used…read moregames for old consoles so I suppose I just don't get it. If you're looking for vintage toys and games though, this is your place! Just be warned they don't really have much of anything else!

I was surprised to find this place in Danville while visiting from Los Angeles. It has a great…read morecollection of classic games and consoles, better than many retro shops in LA. The employees are knowledgeable about their wares, and their collection includes some real rarities.