Fye Stratford Square Mall

I miss when Chicago Ridge had an fye store but mysteriously went away for unknown reasons. My first time coming here, I was browsing around for hours at what they have on sale and they got some really cool stuff like action figures, electronics, posters, anything animé and more. They have the worst way to market their «shovelware» items that don’t sell to you.

This is a review of only the VINYL LP selections at this store…
Growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I learned to roll my eyes and not want to shop at places like Sam Goody or Musicland. The places always seemed lame to me, in the way that Jack Black’s character in High Fidelity makes clear in that movie, when mocking the father who wanted to buy his daughter Stevie Wonder’s «I Just Called to Say I Love You.» I would much rather have shopped at Tower or Rose than those places, and then, Virgin, once Rose closed.
Of course, the days where that would have been the case have now long passed, and, although Sam Goody and Musicland have now also passed on – Fye has taken over that market, and they now function as our modern day Musicland/​Sam Goody. In today’s world, I still roll my eyes when I come here, but the fact is, Fye has become a «necessary evil» for record buyers today in many of Chicago’s suburban areas, as it’s either the case that you aren’t being served by anyone else, or even if you are, can you really pass up one more place willing to offer you new vinyl in an actual brick and mortar store?
This is the perspective I bring to shopping here, and you can call me a «sell out» for discussing Fye as a place for *music buyers* in Capital Letters in that Jack Black way to shop at, but I do stand by this perspective. See my other 50+ reviews of music sellers throughout Chicagoland – I make the stand I do on strong ground as a MUSIC BUYER…
The pros to Fye are that, depending on which store you go to, the selection of new LPs can actually be pretty decent. There does seem to be variation by location, even though it’s a chain though. For instance, the Bloomingdale one I would say has a decent selection of new stuff, but it is no where near as extensive as the Fox Valley Mall location, which is surprisingly good for a chain store.
The cons to Fye are the prices and the fact that it’s a chain store. The prices tend to be higher on new LPs than places like Reckless or Dusty Groove, and they are also higher than buying new LPs online at Amazon. In addition, since its a chain store, there are limits to what they are willing to carry in stock, even at locations where the selection is better. Thus, well-​selling classic rock and pop are well stocked, but more esoteric fare (say, new LPs by Brian Eno) will not be found.
Given the convergence of pros and cons, I give Fye a 3. In particular, the Fye in Bloomingdale, since they have a more average selection of LPs, even for a Fye. (Again, see my comment above about their stock here relative to the Fox Valley store).
If you live in a «record store desert» in the suburbs, and you don’t want to just rely on Amazon, Ebay, or Discogs for LP buying, you might want to consider coming to a Fye for your vinyl, if one is close enough by. You may find yourself surprised at just what they can have in the store in stock…

Let me start by saying the only reason it’s not 5 stars is because their prices can be quite high. You have to pay attention to get a good deal. With that being said, they have almost everything you could need in movies and music. Very large store compared to some other FYE’s I have been in. The staff has always been kind and attentive every time I’ve been there. I would recommend checking them out if you get the chance!

CLERK-«Hi, welcome to FYE, would you care to insure your DVD purchase for $ 1?»
Me-«So for an extra $ 1, you guys will fix/​get me another copy of C.H.U.D. 2. if it gets scratched up/​damaged?»
CLERK– «Yes!»
ME-«Well, I bought my copy of C.H.U.D. (the original) back in 2006 from Tower Records going out of business sale, and it’s still good, so I’ll pass.»
CLERK– «Would you like to be an FYE CLUB member today and receive $ 2 off on your purchase?»
ME-«How much is the membership?»
CLERK– «You get a 30 day trial period (which you can cancel), and after that it’s $ 11.95 per month. Besides the $ 2 discount, you get coupons and discounts on our website.»
ME– «No thanks, I hate shopping on the internet.»
CLERK-​” You spent over $ 15, you can get a copy of Bridesmaides for $ 5.”
ME– «Sorry, I’ll pass. So, if I took any or all of your sales pitches, do you win the trip to Aruba?»
The days are numbered for brick and mortar stores. So sad. This is the same crap Blockbuster pulled before they went under. TONS of incentives/​sales pitches at the counter. Sadly, I think FYE’s days are limited. I LOVE DVD/​CD stores. Love them. You can tell they over-​bought on plenty of titles. Plus, I saw deals like, «BUY ANYTHING for $ 15 or more and get Bridesmaids on DVD for only $ 5! I’m gonna bet that copy of bridesmaids hasn’t even been PAID OFF by FYE. A distributor sold it to them on NET 30 credit and they’re being CHASED for payment. So just liquidate all their overbuys and worry about settling past dues later. Typical. Honestly, I hate shopping on the net. Yeah, I could log onto Amazon and purchase Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go To College, but it’s more fun to find it in brick and mortar clearance bins. You know, the thrill of the chase. FYE has plenty of hiden gems on their shelves. Help them out by supporting brick and mortar stores. Also, help them pay off their past due bills to vendors. Oh, and all in all, America’s pretty much finished. Thanks internet.

Deals at f.y.e. used to be decent but now there is not any advantage to buying used material here as they charge as much as online stores. Bought a copy of Seether Disclaimer II from the Bloomingdale branch and they only had the dvd in the crystal with no cd. I assumed that they look at the used material they purchase before shrink wrapping it, but apparently they don’t. I will not go to f.y.e. again.

The employees are always very helpful, and will look up any movie/​cd you are looking for If you can’t find it yourself. Prices are a bit more expensive then half price books for used entertainment and outrageous for new material but they have a lot of to choose from.

i bought a used cd from a different fye store but it had the wrong cd in it so i returned it to this location. they were really nice in trying to find the actual cd i bought since i was very disappointed that it wasnt in there. they let me exchange it for something else.

Store Review:
This is a dying brand of store, the video/​eclectic assortment of goods store i.e. tower records before that closed down. With netflix, redbox, and hulu this is bound to close in the near future as people have shifted over to the online area of media; however the for the purist who like to hold a dvd or listen to «CDs» this is the place to go. There is a video game section as well but usually more expensive than amazon. Quite a large collection of movies and music. There is also many different bargain bins around store with discounted trinkets and used CDs. So if you want to reminisce about the past this is the place to go!
Pros– discount bins galore, savings on gentle used cds etc
Cons– cheaper watching movies online instead of owning them
Hidden deals–
Check the bargain bins, there is a perpetual clearance section that changes often.

I had such a great experience here this weekend, I wish I could remember the employees names that helped me so they can get proper recognition. My boyfriend and I came in looking for a specific movie that’s about 10 years old and hard to find. (American Beauty– were on a Kevin Spacey kick) and two girls there checked the database and knew they had a copy, but it must have been in the wrong place. Both of them searched the store with us, and finally found it in the stockroom. I work retail, and I know that can be a very draining job to do, but I was so impressed with how much time they took with us, and I was so excited to have finally found what we were looking for. Both girls were very sweet and had fun with us in the store. Excellent customer service. We are huge movie buffs, and we will definitely bypass best buy and come here for everything we are looking for from now on. Oh, also, our movie was used, so it was an awesome price, and the girls made sure they told us it was buy one, get one half off. Made for an awesome movie night! Thanks guys!

I have been to this location a few times & most of my visits here were pleasant all except for one.
I have come here a few times for used DVD’s & most recently for a few seasons of Entourage. I recently discovered Disc Replay & have learned that they can offer lower prices but FYE still has a few good priced items new & used.
All of my experiences here were pleasant except for my most recent. I called in & asked if they had season 8 of Entourage. The employee asked me to hold & he would go check, when he got back on the phone he told me that they had a copy left & that he would hold it behind the counter for me. I got in my car & drove about 35 minutes to FYE & when I got there i told the person behind the counter that there should be a copy of season 8 of Entourage on hold for me. This was not the case, she told me that they had just sold the last copy. The girl helping me was very nice & looked through the entire store for another copy because the computer said that they had one left but after about 15 minutes of waiting they couldn’t find one. In that time I called every Disc Replay in the area but none had a copy of Entourage Season 8. I ended up having to go to Fox Valley mall which was an extra 35 minutes away.
Overall my last visit here was a disaster & management didn’t do anything to make the situation better. They offered to have a copy shipped to my house but I told them I wanted it today. They called Fox Valley Mall & had them hold a copy for me. The last experience dropped them from four stars to three stars & that is being very fair. I would possibly visit this store again if other stores didn’t have the item I was looking for or if the price was better here.

I will give this place 3 stars which may be a bit generous, but there are a few cool things about this place:
The Main Pros:
— It’s a music and video store inside a mall.
— The selection is pretty large and decent, and even has certain «sections» (ie. hard rock/​heavy metal, rock/​pop, country, etc).
— Sometimes you can find some little perks/​bargain bins and sales for gifts, or «used» cds for much cheaper which are just as good as new.
— Staff is usually very friendly, sometimes too helpful.
— has a small ‘vinyl section’ and even sometimes they are on sale for say 10% off. However, they are kinda over-​priced normally. Unless you are in a bind or REALLY want to get a certain album there on THAT day, you could easilly find the same new records for much cheaper online. I have found a a few classic albums on vinyl in this section for reasonable prices at time, it really all depends. It’s still cool just to thumb through this section!
— Nice dvd/​movie/​tv show section (look for the used items, they are just as good and less pricey) — though I personally look more at the music section.
The Main Cons:
— Most of the cds are obviously WAY OVERPRICED. $ 17-​$ 19.99 is not the going rate for new or popular releases. You’re better off going to Best Buy or
. (Now you know why music stores in general are hurting… WAY OVERPRICED which leads a lot of people to just download their one or two favorite songs and not buy full length albums anymore). The store has to pay its rent somehow, though.
— «Sale» cd prices sometimes crack me up. $ 13.99 to $ 15.99 — this would normally be the going rate to slightly higher price for a new album. Again your best bet would be to find the same item much cheaper at another store, or online (or try and find it USED there.)
Overall, its a cool place to browse around or to kill time and look at some music or vinyl. It may have what you are looking for but be prepared to pay a much higher price (again though, SOME OF the vinyl seems pretty reasonable) than what you would normally pay elsewhere.
If you are looking for bargains or really obscure music material though, probably not the place you’ll find it.

Oh Lord,
My boyfriend absolutely LOVES this store. I have my Furry Babies (Which is located next to Carsons) and he has FYE. EVERYTIME we come to Startford we visit both stores.
This store has EVERYTHING. They have a whole wall full of seasons of almost any TV show you can think of. I found shows from when I was a kid and completely forgot about.
They have a TON of movies too. More movies than CD’s I think. Well, CD’s are pretty much dying out anyway with the iTunes around now, but still! They usually have really good deals on the gently used DVD’s. It’s usually buy one get one 50% off. Good deal, because you can definitely bulk up your DVD collection for cheap coming here!
Happy shopping! :)

Really cool music and video store. Its HUGE and the selection here is great. The store is really well-​organized and they have tons of music, dvds, and videos to choose from.