More of hard to find picks, owner was nice and helped me find where to get some very niche stuff I had been looking for. read more

Skinnie's Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Norfolk, Virginia

Do not shop at this record store The owner here is a piece of garbage who would rather protect his inventory. Then, be nice to anyone else. I went to the record store to try and find some Led Zeppelin or other bands I may like after i'm in the store for less than five minutes, he asked me if had found anything I wanted I replied with Some lead zeppelin and i'm looking for houses of the holy and I see it. There's a sticky note on the plastic that says it's an original pressing realizing, it's a first pressing. I want to make sure it's not scratched up to s*** so I take the sleeve off. I'm looking at the artwork. I'm opening the full gated sleeve. I take the vinyl and the protective original sleeve that's around it. And this stupid owner comes over. And hey, don't take it out of the packaging. I apologize because cause I was caught on guard. I then reply with, oh, I'm sorry I just wanted to look at it. And he doesn't reply, and then he says to me, are you a serious buyer? Do you even want this? And I'm trying to explain to him I do, but I wanna know if it's in good condition, and he doesn't respond to any of that. So I'm like, wow, this s*** sucks. And I didn't even take the vinyl out of the protective sleeve at all. He only got mad at me because I sat the artwork down on the protective. Sleeve on top of a stack of other vinyls, so I'm kind of p*****. So please don't shop at this store and everything's overpriced out the wazoo and he also has a lot of insensitive t-shirts with Inappropriate symbols and anatomy read more

DO NOT LISTEN TO THE REVIEWS. Okay look, Skinnies is a store that is meant for people looking for underground music. If you call or walk in asking for Billie Eilish or Metallica, he's going to suggest you go to Walmart or Amazon. This is NOT to be mean, this is about saving you time. If he knows that his store is not going to have what you are looking for, why waste your time? I've been going for several years and he's always been so nice and helpful. The selection is incredible if you like underground and hard to find vinyls. The value is reasonable as well, considering the rarity of some of the things you will find in here. If you are an underground music fan and looking for those types of records, this IS THE SPOT! read more

See all

The owner was very kind and helped me find what i was looking for! Very talkative and very knowledgable! Great selection and tons of T-Shirts to choose from, mostly vinyl but some CD's too. Don't listen to these other reviews, i will be coming again. read more

Never left a review before but this place was that awful. If I could I would go to a zero star. owner was disrespectful as fuck and basically pushed me out of the store not helpful at all. Dont go! read more

I never leave reviews, but my experience here was so shocking I wanted others to be aware of the awful service in this store before they consider coming. I came in to browse because I was in the area and I had not been to this record store yet. I quickly realized that the prices were a bit out of my range at the moment. I'm about to head off to college, so I'm not looking to drop a lot of money on vinyl right now, and I typically try to get a bargain in thrift stores, so I was not accustomed to that price point. As I was heading out I thanked the shopkeeper and bid him a nice day, and then he inquired about me not finding anything. I politely let him know it was a bit out of my price range, and he very rudely responded, "Well you could've told me you were too cheap, poor and broke and I would've saved you a lot of time." I was completely shocked, I've never been treated that way in a store. I would not recommend giving your money to a place that treats their potential customers like this. read more

Great music spot. The staff is knowledgeable and very nice. They have a fairly large selection to choose from. It's hard to put a price on vinyl. read more

This is the perfect place to get records, band merch, and other select oddities that music heads can get down with. If you're ever in the Norfolk area this is an awesome stop on your tour. Steve is absolutely congenial, helpful and honest. He also knows his stuff and will talk to you about it for as long as you want to. Been there since 1982 and I hope it goes strong for long into the future. P.S. disregard all of the negative reviews. The people that have bad reviews have them for a reason, and it isn't this stores fault. It's theirs. read more

Skinnie's Records - Skinnie's store t shirt - Music & DVDs Near Me - Norfolk, Virginia

Do not go here to shop, the collection is bootlegged and the popular difficult to find songs are ported to be pressed. The TLDR is this store sells unauthentic, scam records. If you have to go here you must ring a doorbell to enter, and you will have to ask to be let out, this leaves me wondering about if things are being hidden here. The pricing of records inside is slightly expensive given these are bootleg copies. You are better off shopping elsewhere, and the owner has zero customer service. He made both me and my girlfriend uncomfortable. All sales are final is another red flag. He was insensitive and when I pointed out albums that were never pressed he would give me a snappy defensive remark. read more

My only complaint about this establishment is that the proprietor did not meet the dismal expectations presented within these Yelp reviews. The owner was actually super helpful and kind. We found a couple records and some cool T-shirts and stickers. read more

I am not a person to write reviews but I had to when it came to this place. I looked up record places in the area and saw this place that I had never been to before in search of Westside Gunn and Griselda vinyls. When I went in I asked the owner if they carried Westside Gunn Vinyls as they are rare to come across and when I was pointed to the section I was delighted. After I finished looking through, I went to find him and ask if there were any other rap or Griselda vinyls to where he rudely explained to me that his store was a punk and rock store that carries rap vinyls that you wouldn't find at other record shops. He then says to me condescendingly "do you find any of these albums anywhere else? I suggest that you look wherever else you've been to find other stuff." He then tried to explain to me that I was being condescending thinking that I was asking "is that all" when all I simply asked was if he had any other rap. I was then practically escorted out of the shop and I told him i apologized if I came off as condescending as that was not my intention to which he responded "that's exactly how you came off." I am not sure if he was having a bad day or business has been slow, but regardless I did not deserve the disrespect I received from the owner. I was excited to find the Westside Gunn vinyls, but any shop that disrespects me does not deserve my money. read more

Don't "waste your time". Never been here, didn't look the place up (should have). Just happened to drive past on a weekend and had time to kill. Maybe because I'm not from here, I've never seen a store like this locked up. There's a ring door bell you hit to be let in. After 5:30 you need an appointment . Novices or people who have never been should make an appointment?! What pretentious BS! I rang the bell. Was greeted in a kind of hostile manner. Was asked what I was looking for...Um...records? Told him I like to go to records stores and see what old vinyls they have, maybe catch a bargain bin, or sale. Expand my musical horizons but I'm not looking for any particular album, as my collection is rather large. "That's last century", "I'm in it to win it" was his literal response. Wild. I almost left on the spot, I should have because there wasn't much there. They had a couple cool older presses and they did have almost one of each album for most of the artists. Mostly everything was wrapped new, easily attainable online and priced higher than you can get at Walmart, though. I'm not from the area, so I don't know if this is normal but I have shopped around at stores when I travel, and have never hit a store like this. Vibe was totally off, completely ruined the experience of shopping at a vinyl store, which is something I like to do on a day off, for the activity. If I didn't, I would just buy online. After looking around for a bit, I said thanks, have a nice day as I was walking out. The guy I'm assuming owns the store, says "Sorry to waste your time" in the rudest, most sarcastic way possible. I'm from the Midwest and noticing a trend around here. Needless to say though, I won't be back and will advise people to shop elsewhere. I don't leave a lot of reviews but Holy hell, that was so weird, pretentious and completely unnecessary that I just had to. read more

Skinnie's Records - Please keep mobile device to a minimum? Um why? So I can't look up prices & order online, instead? No thanks. - Music & DVDs Near Me - Norfolk, Virginia

I went here 30 years ago and had a very bad experience with the sales person so I didn't go back. I was in town a few months ago and saw that the place was still open so I gave it a second chance. Same experience though, almost thirty years later. Very pretentious, seemed like they didnt want to answer questions or make a sale. The guy behind the counter reminded me of the Simpsons comic store guy, if he owned a record store. read more

Same as experience as most other reviewers. The selection here is good but thats all. Ive been in the store twice now and both times the owner and staff have made me feel very unwelcome. The owner seems irritated that people are even in his store. read more

The owner is extremely rude and condescending. Treats customers who come in the store like criminals. Don't bother to go in if you're only intention is to browse. He will get extremely grumpy and rude. Seems like his selection is overpriced and a large amount of bootleg copies as well. I would never spend a dime at this establishment. I hope he goes out of business. read more

*I should have read the reviews before entering* Please, come with me on this wild journey...it's long, I'm sorry, but I promise it's worth the read. I got a beautiful record player from my boyfriend for my 26th birthday. Literally the best gift I have ever received. Music is the most important thing in my life. I got that from my mom who literally has a bachelors degree studying music. I love how it can communicate every emotion and there is something out there for everyone to love and cherish. Needless to say, if you're reading this review right now; you're probably in the same boat as me. Vinyl is the best form of listening to recorded music. My mom drove from North Carolina to get lunch with me the following day. I told her about my gift and how excited I was, and she wanted to buy me some records. I immediately agreed and we looked up a shop. Skinnie's was only 0.7 miles away! I thought it was a sign. We show up to the shop and ring the doorbell. As we were waiting, we read the sign requiring masks and only allowing four people in at a time. He comes to the door and without either of us saying anything, he says "I don't have what you're looking for here." I'm like wtf??? "Is this not a record store?" He replies that it is, but he sells underground punk metal and has been doing it for 65 years. He was so rude, we I thought he was joking at first. I asked, "Do you not have the Carpenters?" (A sister/brother band from the SIXTIES) He says, "'No. You can find that at Walmart or Target." Baffled, I say "No Beach Boys? Nothing" He replies, extremely annoyed, "just go get your mask and come back." We enter the store as he proceeds to still tell us that he doesn't have what we want. That his prices can't compare to theirs. Anything to try to push us out and along. It made no sense to me. We browsed and I got some good ones: Lana Del Ray, Marvin Gaye, Dean Martin, Mac Miller, The Carpenters, and the Supremes. I told my mom I didn't think he knew who The Carpenters were if he thought I could find that at Target. As he is is checking us out, he looks at the Carpenters vinyl. "Oh! I had this old lady, like a grandma, come in last week and was looking for the carpenters. I was able to find her one and decided to get some more. It's nice to see to that they are being taken home." I'm like, wtf dude, you literally said you didn't have any. He obviously realized his mistake and tried to make up a lie. Out of all of the records I got, he says the Lana Del Ray is a good one and you wouldn't find her music at a Target. That's literally the only one out of the ones I got that you would find at a target. He must not realize how mainstream she is. He is writing down the names of the vinyls and their prices on a sheet of paper and I notice he is up charging them. Only by a couple of dollars, but I called him out on it twice. I know he thought we were just stupid and not worth his time. We check out and then he FOLLOWS us out of the store to tell me that during this season, he gets a lot of people like us and I'm lucky that I came on a "shitty, rainy day" and that if it was a Saturday he probably wouldn't let us in. He told me if I want a certain record, to message him on his Instagram and ask for it. I said, "isn't the point of a record store to browse?" He then said that it's not fair to his other costumers if we are holding up the people limit by not knowing what I want and that he has costumers come from out of town to visit to his shop for a certain record. Mind you, there were only two people who came while we were there for those 15 minutes. No one had to wait So basically, I'm a stupid girl that doesn't know anything and I'm still not good enough for his store after spending almost $200 at it. Sad. read more

Owner is a jerk. Just relocated here from SD, first time in. First you have to knock at the door to be key in, although he's obviously sitting right there. My hubby likes some punk rock, but I do not, asked about some folk stuff, and he was quite nasty about it. read more

Apparently the dude at the front door dose not know what costume service is ? He's a jerk apparently it's his staple' it's a terrible formula. He's extremely condescending & talked down to my girlfriend like she was an idiot' F this shop he. Thinks it's the bees knees when he should be lucky to have a shop. read more

I read the reviews and had to find out for myself as I was so curious if this guy was really as rude as the reviews say. He sure is!! I'm an avid record collector and I won't be spending a dime supporting his business. read more

my boyfriend and I were visiting the area this past weekend and decided to stop by skinnies in hopes of finding a copy of garage inc and/or simply just to browse the selection. we took a quick peak at the photos we found online and thought skinnies would be a good pit stop, however like many others, we should've read the reviews. we entered the shop around 5:10/5:15, the shop closes at 6. upon stepping inside, the shop owner approached us advising "it's almost quitting time, are you looking for something specific?" my boyfriend told him we were looking for something metallica, to which the shop owner told us he doesn't carry metallica and to check out Target. his tone was very condescending. I had my hand on the door, ready to leave since we were unwelcome. the shop owner noticed my hand and then took the door and held it open for us, basically kicking us out. reading the other reviews for this shop, I'm baffled he's still in business. me and my boyfriend are both a little soft spoken, so maybe that's why he had an issue with us? maybe the fact that we're both young as well? not too sure but I definitely would not recommend to go into this shop unless you are a confident talker because he will do anything and everything to prevent you from purchasing from him which is weird but okay. I'm just confused as to why you would drive away customers willing to spend money at your shop? (would rate a 0 but it's not an option.) read more

In town from Los Angeles and thought I found a hidden gem. Boy was I wrong. I'm a respectful guy and even with my demeanor this guy managed to disrespect me within 5 seconds of entering the store. I was still willing to spend a couple hundred dollars but he kicked me out before closing time because he was "ready to go home". read more

there's an awesome selection here! prices vary but when you consider the fact that they are local and pay their own shipping costs it makes total sense! The other review complaining about the owner probably are not used to the culture that might come along with a punk/metal record store. this is not uber outfitters, come to buy records or get out. all around a cool little shop that I will come back to to browse. read more

Skinnie's Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Norfolk, Virginia

My friend and I went this past week to go shop for records. We thought we found a hidden gem, but as a person who shops at tons of record stores, this was the priciest place I have ever been in. Masks are required, which is fine, but I did whiteness the owner yelling at a guest through the window "You can go to any store for that album." Trying to turn the guest away. The owner also rudely criticized the type of record player my friend owns and counts his cash wrong missing about $10-$15. The majority of things he said to us the whole time could've been said differently. Therefore, it was unnecessarily expensive, awkward and uncomfortable. I wish it was a better experience. read more

I am mad at myself for missing this place over the past few months. I have been itching to get back into collecting vinyls and finding new sounds. The shop owner is very kind and welcoming. He also provided gloves for customers, which I appreciate the gesture during these times. The place is kind of small, but doesn't take away from the amount of vinyls you will find here. During my visit, I have to admit I took more interest in the t-shirts and posters for sale throughout the shop, but didn't have enough time to dig deep enough since they were closing soon. I recommend supporting a local music shop whenever you're in the mood for new tunes to listen to. read more

Skinnie's Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Norfolk, Virginia

Great collection of records that you would never think of but the owner is super weird and rude ... he doesn't do military discount either bc he says he pays enough federal taxes to feed one of us for a year. Definitely won't be coming back! read more

We went here, Skinnies Records, last week, yes during the Covid time period. My daughter is getting a record player for Christmas from our family friend and I told her that I would purchase records. We were down at another store and we just happened to come accross this record store and wanted to go in and shop. We were stopped at the door, I'm assuming by the owner or manager he asked what we needed. I was unsure how to answer since most people that go into a record store were there to buy records. I personally have never purchased a record in my life but wanted to find a shop that I could purchase records from and my daughter could afford and would have a good variety of music since she is all over the place in her music taste. The person that met us at the door followed up saying he had a limit of 4 for the store and had 2 people in the shop already. He didn't want the store to be used as a showroom and couldn't help us. I asked what that meant- he said he didn't want us to come in and compare prices. I was so floored- I have never been tried going in to a store to purchase merchandise and basically been told I don't want your business. I will NEVER support or shop in a store that is so disrespectful to people trying to support local businesses especially during this tough financial time. read more

Been around forever. Owner is awesome, knowledgeable. I visit this store whenever I pass through Norfolk, which isn't often often enough. Great old school store. read more

Stop By today for a few records. Corpus, Some Iron Maiden & something random. No Corpus. But, As soon i walk in i wasnt greeted just a blank stare. As im doing my search the owner comes right up to me and flips through the jazz section aimlessly & says "You need something?" I replied and said yea.. Do you have the Band Corpus (Psychadelic Rock).. He said "No" aggressively and proceeded to belittle me and say "You do know this is a punk rock metal record shop, right?" i said "yea i know.. but you also have other genres too..." he left and pretty much left me and some other customers stranded to go on his computer... as im completing my my finds.. i make eye contact with him in the back and ask do i pay back there or over here by the front door?.. he gets up and doesnt say anything and proceeds past me as if i was bothering him.. He looks through each record and writes them down... then gets to iron maiden and mumbles "Thats Surprising"... I get the price.. and i know his records are beyond pricey but i wanted to support local shops... so as i begin to swipe he says its debit only.. and i told him i only have credit.. he then says.. "Do you know anything about a small business?" when you use credit with me you steal 4% so i would have to upcharge you 4% to balance it out if you use credit.. and im like well can you do cashapp or paypal and he said hed charge me 5% more for using it as credit and the fees.. so i said you know what . just keep your records.. as im leaving he says figures.. lol Pro's: Local Business with great records (A lot of reissues mixed in with some originals. Con's: Smells like a dog in there. Water leak right by the register. Horrible Customer Service. As a Producer & Record Collector i do not recommend this spot at all. read more

Dont'cha just love music, old/new school vinyl, and partying like it's 1977 at Eddie's Rock Palace? Well, maybe you don't ... But I know I can never seem to get my fix. Old vinyl records are like my heroin. They are the drug and I'm Nikki Sixx --and this is my Heroin Diary of my love for Skinnie's. First off, I want to say: I have been here ONE time. The owner, Steven Athey, had never met me nor I him. I left this store feeling like I had just made a great friend and a killer connect in Ghent. What a swell guy. You like vinyl? Me too. So much, in fact, that I have a stationary record player and a portable one. And while my record collection is as slim as Heidi Klum's infallible waistline after 7362627 kids, I get around --the Beatles, that is. I have spent many o'days and hours lurking through the crowded shelves of ye ol' Vinyl Daze (a staple of the VB Oceanfront --i.e. my stompin' grounds), to find rare and collectible vinyl. Never perusing for more than that. Care to know why? Because, when you break it down, that's what they're good for. The Beatles. That's the bread and butta of Vinyl Daze. THUS, when I don't feel like hanging out in the 'land of yellow submarines' ... I was left with browsing the internet (not my favorite). THAT WAS UNTIL ....... *drum roll*: I walked into Skinnie's! What makes this place special? The selection, the location, the history, the owner (and his handsome, little pug). There was an entire, back wall completely devoted to JUST punk. And when I say punk, I don't mean JUST Misfits. I don't mean JUST Crass. I mean, from the moment that lil' punk baby Jesus was conceived you can hear his lil' punk baby Jesus heartbeat recordings on the back-end of these walls. It blew my freaking mind. This place is like the Six Flags of record stores and I'm the little psycho buying the "speed pass" so I can jump the lines above everyone else. He has an ENTIRE section of heavy metal. And I mean, heeeeeavy, blow your face off death metal. Not your style? It's cool, I like Motley Crüe, too. He's got it. This is not a place for the faint-hearted. This is a place that you will love, appreciate, and cherish if you REALLY DIG good music. For those of you that want the newest Taylor Swift vinyl, go away. Go to Vinyl Daze. Not saying there's anything wrong with you, but you don't deserve to be here. This place is sacred. This place sells you history and, for that, it should be respected. I walked out of there with three vinyls: two old and filled with character, one new. A Cannabis Corpse new vinyl, an authentic Misfits Beyond Evil bootleg, and a Circle Jerks original vinyl. I love it. What a killer find. The owner is so knowledgable, I felt like I was speaking to someone who is the personification of the rock/metal/punk section of the encyclopedia. I will be back for seconds. This place makes me SUPER, freaking happy. Want to know why? Because it's authentic. This small business personifies Ghent and what it should be. A big, Abraham Lincoln top hat off to you, Mr. Athey --Long live Skinnie's! read more

Skinnie's Records - Today's finds. Yummmm. - Music & DVDs Near Me - Norfolk, Virginia

Extremely rude and disrespectful. Before we friends and I could even get into the store w where being harassed about whether or not we were buying something and to not come in if you're just "tagging along" read more

Great selection of Punk. Took my son who also is into punk. Its like taking us to toys r us. They have almost everything and anything you could think of of that genre for sure as well as other genres. Definitely a repeat customer. Owner seemed like a friendly type. Just not overly which is fine. No one likes someone breathing over there shoulder while thumbing through records. Thanks for keeping it alive Skinnies!!! Five stars and Five devil horns read more

"You want CDs?? Who the f-- listens to THOSE anymore?" - guy selling vinyls in 2020 If you don't mind putting up with the antics of the proprietor, there's a good selection of grunge and metal in the store. But I wont be back. read more

Tried to shop around but the owner told me they were closed and rather leaving it at that he yells at me from his car that I should've set up an appointment and went on about "how are you going to shop when the stores closed" or something. Very rude and also closed early to begin with. read more

I have never written a Yelp review ever...until now. I've been supporting local record shops since the mid 90's and love to see local record stores succeed. I visited Skinnie's about 3 years ago and spent over $300 on records because I was so impressed by the selection. I noticed some of the negative reviews and figured it's just a punk rock record shop and of course they are probably a little rough around the edges. During my second visit to Norfolk I made sure to prioritize a visit to the shop. We rolled in around 5:30pm and the shop was closing at 6. The door was locked so we rang the door bell as the posted instructions said to. Steve answered the door and said "I'm about to close, what do you want". I said we want to buy a few records all we need is 10 minutes. He goes "well none of you have masks on" (we are outside and had masks on us). We put on masks and he reluctantly lets us in. While we are in there he tells my 11 year old who is actually into the records he sells to "move out of his way". I make my way to check out to make my purchase and ask him if he has a certain record that just came out. He goes "who?"...and continues to say "if I say "who" that's a pretty good sign I don't have it. Fuck you Steve! I'm all for independent punk rock record shops. Open since 1987, but time to close dude. You suck. read more

Don't go here unless you want to be eyed like a hawk, judged for your selections, and expected to find exactly what you want within two minutes of entering. Dude will literally kick you out if he thinks you're taking too long or wasting his time even if no one else is waiting to get in. All of his records are overpriced and half of them are strange, bootleg pressings that shouldn't exist in the first place. I'm a younger vinyl fan but I've put a lot of money, time, effort, and research into my hobby and to have the store owner think he's smarter than me the entire time was extremely irritating. Don't go here. read more

This is one of those where if I could put 0 stars I would the guy kicked me out!!! I went in just to browse and the old dude working the register was extremely rude when I went to pay for what I wanted he said you know u can get these somewhere else for cheaper like at target... I was like ummm ok? The dude kept saying you're not gonna offend me if you wanna get em somewhere else. Then he said it's just I know you probably got a record player like yesterday right (rude af right there) I was like no Ive had it for a while actually he was like well these records are pretty generic (rude af there too because I happen to have a very wide/vast range of musical fucking taste so fuck u) and they sell em everywhere that's why I don't have good prices on em. I wanted a Fleetwood Mac and a Foo Fighters record and each one was like 30 bucks lol?! So I said yeah that is pretty expensive I'll just get em somewhere else... he IMMEDIATELY goes to the door and says have a good day and has his arm out like gtfo but I had a cool Metallica mask and a sticker I wanted to buy I was like but I wanted to- and he was like please... have a good day. Sooooooo I was like whatever man this dude is like a freak collector/freak enthusiast for underground music and records soo if you're not into the same stuff he is take ur business elsewhere or you'll be treated like shit. I'm alllllll for the local businesses and I have paid wayyyy too much for stuff before just because I knew they were local shops and I don't even care but this dude was literally talking shit to me and was acting real offended for someone who said he wouldn't be just because I didn't want some lesser known punk albums... read more

I decided to stop by here on my way home, and poke around to see if I could find any vinyls that interested me. This store has an okay selection, but everything is in crates and extremely hard to look through. Some crates are blocked by shelves, making it very hard to see what's inside. The owner also comes off as being very rude and impersonal. He may wanna consider a different line of work, because it was off-putting. I probably will not return to this location, as there are better stores in the area. read more

Most legit and honest person I've met. I come from cali so I'm always looking for a record shop that hits home. Skinnie's you got yourself a regular! read more

This store is great! The owner is helpful and will not try to upsell or downsell. He is keen on those who know music and know what they like. They have a little bit of EVERYTHING. If you have a genre you are looking for he most likely has it. If you have a question about something that may or may not be in stock, he can answer it. He is NOT keen on new record player owners, and it is not meant to be an insult, just wants people in the store who are looking for something in particular and know what they are looking for. I have been here twice already and brought my youngest in (26 years old) after he mentioned his roommate got a turntable . My son has avid music tastes all over the place and he knows what he likes to listen to and appreciates vinyl. The owner did mention , newbies it's not that kind of store as he doesn't cater to them. So if you are looking for a cool place to peruse and find that oddity or rare vinyl this is the place. If you are just looking for records then maybe Target or Walmart is for you. The prices vary widely depending if it is a first press when the album was released or not and well I found my Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album the one with the working zipper on the cover and a few others that you can't find in Target or Walmart. I grew up with vinyl and appreciate it for vinyl, not because it's become trendy ... read more

They say that people are more likely to write negative reviews than positive. With that being said, this will definitely be a negative review. I recently got a record player and wanted to make my way into Vinyl like my father and his grandfather before him. I decided to try to shop local, so I stopped by Skinnies for the first time ever today in the hopes that I would be able to pick up something I could enjoy. My music tastes vary widely, and I listen to just about everything. I walked in and the guy behind the counter says hello and continues his conversation with two young women. I look around for two albums I wanted to buy. The albums were "Neutral Milk Hotel - In an Aeroplane Over The Sea" and "Godspeed You Black Emperor - F#A#" Now while these albums are nowhere near mainstream music, they are pretty highly regarded albums in the music world. I look around a bit and try to see if he has them in stock. I then asked him if he had them in stock and he said no, so I shrugged then walked away. It's at this time that decorum when out the window. He then said to the two young ladies that "That's the fifteen minute guy. He and his friends like a band for 15 minutes, I can't be expected to carry those titles. He won't buy anyways". It was at this point I was about to snap. I asked a few more questions, then just decided to walk out. Courtesy is king. Otherwise you have no merit to stand on against the likes of Amazon or Ebay sellers. I took my purchase to amazon and got a great deal. I like to buy local, but when you have terrible customer service it is tough. Take your business to Vinyl Daze in VA Beach, or Birdland, or even American Oldies in Newport News. Shit even go to the back of Lavender and Lace where a guy sets up new albums. Look up Ryan Stoner and Anthems of the Undesirable on Facebook Don't spend a penny in this joint, please don't perpetuate lousy service. PS. I posted this on facebook and got the following responses from my friends. "He told me to get out because I had a suit on and I was just going to look around, ask ten questions and then leave." "yeah, I tried going in there looking for some post-rock once and nearly got chewed out because no one shops there, in favor of going to big name stores. well maybe if you didn't treat potential clientele like crap you might get some fresh blood." "Skinny has kind of become a meme. You go in there expecting to be treated like some sort of unwashed plebeian. I've been pretty lucky to never been the target of one of his Asperger's-rage-rants, but if you want a better selection with MUCH better service, Vinyl Daze Records is the better choice." And so forth. read more