Record Swap

0.3 mi

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.

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Exile on Main Street

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.

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See You CD & Vinyl

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.

Rosa waiting for y'all to swing through and receive her pets!

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Disc Replay Champaign

Just walking into the store throws you into a fit of nostalgia. The staff is always super friendly…read moreand always willing to help out. Highly recommend!

Not a bad store, except that it is nearly impossible to even get someone to look your direction…read more The selection is what you would expect for a place that buys from people. It is inconsistent, but you can also find some pretty cool things. Prices are not bad and they often have deals if you buy multiple items. I would say that they are better for movies than anything else; it is a pretty vast selection. It can be crowded and a bit messy. It seems like the employees are most of the problem here. The shelves can be really out of order and I have seen many times when the same item was listed at multiple different prices or had gunk and other stickers all over it. If you are patient and do not mind doing all the work yourself you can find decent deals; just be prepared to wait ages for anyone to help with things you cannot reach yourself.

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Record Service

1.2 mi

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.

Priceless Books

Every university town requires a shambly old bookstore with overflowing shelves whispering wisps of…read morearcana to all who pass its portal. This is Urbana's. My favorite thing about this particular emporium of tomes, though, is that the kindly gentleman who owns it is a dead ringer for a beloved childhood fictional character, Professor Branestawm.

The best part of used bookstores is the element of serendipity. I find books I have loved that I…read morenever knew existed, and would never have known to search for them. New bookstores, in my view, are very limited in scope -- the owner has a particular taste, majority of titles (not counting classics) have been published in the last 1-5 years, from major publishing houses, almost everything has been on the NYT besteller's list. Very little element of surprise, few hidden gems. Used bookstores have so much more serendipity, so many hidden gems, so much more variety. And Priceless Books has this element of used bookstores, but twice as much as any other used bookstore I've been to. And I've been to a lot! On every road trip, if I'm just passing through, I check out their used bookstores. This one's special. Yes, it's messy and there's piles of books on the floor blocking the path (definitely not a wheelchair friendly store). Yes, you have to crane your neck to view titles up on the shelf. Yes, the store clerk is not gregarious (but does have a twinkle in his eye). But it's worth it! I have found so many books that my here that my life feels more complete having read them, and I never would have known of them if not for this store. This can be said of many a used book store, but Priceless Books just has more of it, and it's something special.

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Polyvinyl Record

1.9 mi

First and foremost and ultimately important is the fact that Polyvinyl has a handful of my…read morefavourite bands signed to its roster. But the obvious love for this record company that sprouts from that fact aside, the whole business is legit. The selection of merchandise rules, and they are always having awesome sales to get rid of backstock and excess inventory. If, by chance, a t-shirt size is wrong and the error is on my end, they will still replace it with the proper size at no additional cost. Only once in nearly a decade of supporting this company has my order been wrong, and even then they immediately took steps to correct it. Each package I receive always has extras as well: posters and stickers and samplers and promo material. And there is always, always an Airhead, which is awesome because they're delicious AND vegan. WIN. I will be a Polyvinyl fan for life, and although the record industry is changing drastically, I hope that people still continue to support the independent labels out there that are doing it right.

I wish I could buy every record from Polyvinyl. I just got my 7" from the band STRFKR in and it…read morecame with another 7" of a band they wanted me to hear for free. Along with that was a couple stickers and as always an air head! Even with all of this included the 7" I bought was only $5.00 and shipping came the same week I bought it! definitely the best and quickest shipping I've seen beyond Amazon.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers

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.

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The Literary

4.5

(60 reviews)

2.0 mi

Such an incredible store with the best vibe. Food is always amazing, and generous portions…read more It is so fun to wander around and look at books and goodies while you wait for food. Employees are always amazing. They always have fun seasonal tables and curated gifts for people who love books and stationary.

The Lit is such a cute spot for brunch! I've really enjoyed the brunch breakfast burger and the…read morehash brown is crispy. Big fan of the kimchi dip!

Not-So-NYC Breakfast Sandwich ($12) - bacon, egg, cheese, kimchi aioli, arugula. Served with hash browns. The bagel is really soft.

Vibe

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Cocktail

The Idea Store

This is my favorite place to take visiting grandchildren. I give them $10 - $20 each and let them…read morebuy a bunch of stuff. Then they spend the rest of the day creating something out of it all. They love it and are so proud of their creations!

What a special store this is. The concept and mindfulness from this store is very lovely…read more You can get reused items that can be repurposed at a student friendly price. I've gotten a jar for my utensils, post cards, and even sand paper.

Most people are probably more familiar with this angle.

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Outside

Plant Mode

Wonderful selection of plants and the owner is great at helping with selecting a plant that will…read morethrive in place that you want one to grow! He has great prices for very healthy plants!

It was fun to visit and see the healthy variety of plants. The owner was very helpful, pleasant and…read moreknowledgeable. I learned a lot and plan to go back again with friends and family.

V.n, ;lfkxgmh Likmnkn'lknlkn'lkn

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Captain Jack's Treasures

4.0

(8 reviews)

4.8 mi

A decent consignment store just outside Champaign. Plan on spending at least an hour if you want to…read morecheck out the whole place. The owners seem to be very nice...

Highly recommend sho if you're looking for vintage clothing and decor it's so amazing. I bought…read moremyself a couple bags of goodies and did t break the bank. Extremely friendly staff super helpful. Definitely one of our must stop shops!

Country Arbors Nursery

We live on a corner lot and our back/side yard was a total eyesore. The landscape designer/owner…read moreworked with us and really helped us to get the most bang for our budget. Needless to say we love our landscaping now! The crew did a great job and everyone we worked with was professional and really nice. My 3 year old liked the landscaping crew so much that on the day they did the work I had to run some errands and I told her it was time to go. She told me, "That's okay, I will just stay with them!" Haha. We would recommend Country Arbors to anyone who is in the market for some new landscaping whether the job is big or small.

poor customer service. asked for an item and was told it is "over there". half the flowers and…read moreplants were under watered. looks like a tornado went throuth the store.

It's so beautiful out there

Moss Cow

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The CU Flower House By A. Hunt Design

Beautiful work and friendly service. Need last minute options for a memorial and they did great.read more

Called to get some flowers delivered for a friend's birthday the next day. The person helping me…read moreout over the phone was so kind and patient and made the entire process so easy. My friend received her beautiful bouquet the next morning and loved it!! Definitely recommend.

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Blossom Basket Florist

Service was good and friendly. Cost was kinda high. 95-100…read moredollars. Delivery was timely. They were for our anniversary. They are pink roses. At the time I order them, they did not have the flowers she likes. So I had to go with roses.

Two weeks before my wedding I was faced with an issue: we had no flowers. My aunt was going to…read moretake care of them, she planned to get them from a local market and arrange them herself, but fell ill. So we had a predicament, one that Blossom Basket took care of. Despite giving them just two weeks notice, despite calling over and over and updating my order, despite giving them little direction on what I was looking for, they were extremely friendly and created beautiful bouquets and arrangements I was so proud to have at our wedding.

Cutest arrangements! Best price !

Hand made local soaps and accessories

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Record Swap - musicvideo - Updated August 2026

People who viewed Record Swap also viewed

See You CD & Vinyl

4.2

(6 reviews)

•$$

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.

Parasol

4.0

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!

Furniture Lounge

4.6

(20 reviews)

•$$$

I died and went to mid century modern heaven. Lol kidding, but what a solid gem this place is…read more Smells of vintage treasures. When I say vintage, I mean a mixture of really HIGH END vintage and mid range affordable pieces. Every piece is a worthy piece here. I have purchased clothing and furniture with excellent service. Down stairs is a lovely selection of curated clothing. They update about every week. There summer hours are limited, but this place is not one to be missed!

This place is such a gem in Champaign. The inventory is constantly moving, the pieces are in great…read moreshape, and the owners are welcoming. We always manage to find something to take home every time we visit. During my most recent visit I was able to find a great mcm wire plant stand and gorgeous mushroom lamp. Check this place out!

Polyvinyl Record

First and foremost and ultimately important is the fact that Polyvinyl has a handful of my…read morefavourite bands signed to its roster. But the obvious love for this record company that sprouts from that fact aside, the whole business is legit. The selection of merchandise rules, and they are always having awesome sales to get rid of backstock and excess inventory. If, by chance, a t-shirt size is wrong and the error is on my end, they will still replace it with the proper size at no additional cost. Only once in nearly a decade of supporting this company has my order been wrong, and even then they immediately took steps to correct it. Each package I receive always has extras as well: posters and stickers and samplers and promo material. And there is always, always an Airhead, which is awesome because they're delicious AND vegan. WIN. I will be a Polyvinyl fan for life, and although the record industry is changing drastically, I hope that people still continue to support the independent labels out there that are doing it right.

I wish I could buy every record from Polyvinyl. I just got my 7" from the band STRFKR in and it…read morecame with another 7" of a band they wanted me to hear for free. Along with that was a couple stickers and as always an air head! Even with all of this included the 7" I bought was only $5.00 and shipping came the same week I bought it! definitely the best and quickest shipping I've seen beyond Amazon.

Gold Nugget Coins

3.0

I came in with gold and silver items, and I was shocked at the low ball offer from the shop owner…read more For the whole lot, the proprietress, offered 40% off the melt value of the items. One item, a ten ounce silver bar was bought for $240.00 in 2022. She offered only $200.00 for it! I would have made a loss on the item even though silver per ounce sells for nigh $39.00/ounce. I had in total 50 francs and 1 ducat in gold. Using a quote of $3450/ounce of gold and having about .57675 of an ounce would have yielded about $1990.00 in a fair market value outside of listing fees and so on. The whole lot in mkt value was somewhere near $2500.00. The lady offered about $1580.00 for the whole lot. Please avoid this shop at all costs. This person does not want to make a fair profit; she wants to make a killing by taking you for a sucker. I was very angry, but I left w/o making a scene.

I recently discovered this local outlet and am very impressed with their selection, pricing,…read morefriendliness and professionalism. A welcome bonus is there are usually other like-minded collectors in the shop which adds a sense of fraternity and comradery. I will definitely be giving them my business in the future!

Dr. G's BrainWorks

3.5

•$$

I so badly wanted to like this place. My husband and I are huge fans of game/puzzle shops. However,…read morethe staff is really rude. My husband was interested in purchasing a chess set, and lifted up the top of the box to see the size of the chess pieces. The worker yanked it out of his hands and yelled at him. It's fine to tell him not to open a box (although he was in no way damaging it), but this should have been handled differently, particularly as one of the reasons people go to these stores rather than shopping online is to see what they are buying. The games and puzzles are also way over-priced. You can find them for half the price on Amazon. Apparently they also have a horrible return policy. You can return only an unopened item and only for store credit and only within a short period of time. I will never buy anything from this store again.

I went to the store in Champaign the evening of 10/3 and my friend and I were in there for almost…read morean hour. The two women who worked there were genuinely excited about various games and thus very good at selling them. There were open games all over the store so we tried a bunch out and the women recommended games based on other games we liked. It was an awesome experience and much better than buying games online! I would love it if this store had events :)

Leonard's Pawn Shop

I love this pawn shop for musical instruments including guitars and synths…read more Check it out the next time you're in C-U

Champaign Sports Cards

3.0

Make a purchase prolly 1 time a month in there at least... always a good selection of singles...read more

Rad Lad Games

4.7

(3 reviews)

Rad Lad Games opened when I was still in High School, and I was one of the first people to support…read morethe store. Since then, I've graduated and gone off to college, but this store is a highlight of every trip back to Illinois. Andy and his staff do great work to create a good environment. The store is always clean, has such a wide selection of games, and when you walk through those doors, you know respect is given to you, so long as you give it to everyone else in the store. That's not to mention how generous Andy is with prizing for events, frequent sales, and so much more. If you're looking for a game store in the Champaign region, my personal belief is that you will not find a better place than Rad Lad Games.

Excellent LGS, top notch experience. Hidden treasure of Mahomet. From the staff, the community,…read moreto the ownership, a great place for your family or playgroup.

Fosters Closet