Beautiful World Syndicate

Closed with a «Please visit our store in South Philly» sign on the door. Bummer.

I have been collecting vinyl for years. I have visited record stores in about 30 states and 5 countries. This is the best store I have ever been to. If you are into vinyl, this is the place. I have more than 1000 records, and still never leave this place without at least 15. And I’m not exaggerating even a little. Hit it up.

What a great place this is!
I joined this site to review places I go to and describe whether it is or is not wheelchair accessible. I think that with BWS I ought to start with the record collector side of side of me and save the wheelchair talk for the end.
This is my current favorite record store in Philly. On 48^th and Pine, it is somewhat isolated and there isn’t much else close by but I like this so that all my attention can be focused on the store.
90% of the records are between 3-​$ 5 and all in VG-​M condition. All the records I’ve bought so far sound great. This store and the one on Passyunk both have outstandingly solid new arrival sections. It’s hard to move on to the main stock when you find all of the records you can afford when you are only a quarter through the new arrivals.
Their main stock isn’t very scant either. I got a replacement copy of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk and had the pleasure of sorting through five copies in great condition. I feel that, and I don’t think I’m too far off in saying that this store probably has significantly less shoppers than the Passyunk location.
This store is located at ground level of an apartment building. It faces 48^th St. and has two entrances. One has two small steps down when you open the door and the other has a ramp when you enter. Unfortunately, they keep the ramped door locked. But the staff is more than accommodating. They aren’t elitist or snobby and they tend to play relatively good music or NPR or WFMU.
For partially ambulatory wheelchair users, the staff will help you know questions asked.
For non-​ambulatory wheelchair users, if you call the store before you go I am sure they’ll have no problem opening the ramped door for you.
So go spend some money and get some clean wax for great prices.

Wow, I didn’t think this location’s selection would trump that of BWS in South Philly, but I was wrong. There must be fewer people looking through this store, because I found about twenty records that I wanted to buy. Their New Arrivals section was loaded with gems, and they had an impressive hip-​hop selection. Also unlike the BWS on E. Passyunk, they had a much vaster collection of $ 1 records, which is, for someone with low funds like myself, essential. I picked up The Kinks’ You Really Got Me and The Byrds’ Mr. Tambourine Man for $ 1 each. They weren’t in bad condition, either. The guy at the counter was cool and pretty unpretentious. Overall, a lovely record-​buying experience.

Whenever I move to a new area, job one (realistically job twenty or so, but that’s not effective rhetoric) is hunting down a good place to pick up used vinyl. BWS eluded me for a few months, but upon discovering it I have fallen in love. Granted our courtship has been fast and capricious, as things tend to be at the beginning, but I imagine my feelings won’t be changing any time soon. Not only does Beautiful World offer a considerably wider inventory than its closest analog in the area (the misleadingly titled Marvelous), loads of new material is constantly spilling in, and the staff are quite knowledgeable and are not pretentious, self-​styled music elitists, a common shortcoming at such establishments. They also endorse reuse of the plastic bags they supply, which I like.
Many may find the simple alphabetical organization under genre headings (as opposed to organization by band name) an inconvenience, but I think it only adds to your delight when you stumble unawares across, say, Mott the Hoople’s «All the Young Dudes», as I did earlier this week while perusing the M’s, rather than noticing a divider with the band’s name and flipping right to it. I find the scavenger hunt format to be much more exciting. Some may agree.
Beautiful World also has a modest but appreciable amount of new vinyl, both reissues and contemporary stuff, which is often an attractive alternative to CDs or mp3s because many bands these days include with their new releases on vinyl a code and instructions for downloading the entire album for free, if you consider having a digital copy necessary.
I’m not really in the market for used CDs anymore, but a cursory survey suggests that their selection in this department is also respectable, if that’s your thing.
Also, if you come across any Flying Burrito Brothers in your browsing, please purchase it for me and I will reward you handsomely. Too long has that record evaded my best efforts to secure a copy.

Back when it was only in Passyunk I took heart in the fact that I would only buy albums from it on a semi-​rare basis. But since it’s added another spot up West that’s within walking distance (ESPECIALLY when they do flea markets in Clark Park) I have affectionately dubbed it the money taker!
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing (yet!). because it hooks up good music and an occasional good movie. They definitely hook up some good deals, and plenty of things to go through even if the store can be on the small side. Overall, I dig it!

Already an institution in South Philly on Passyunk, the new West Philly location is definitely poised for greatness.
Just stopped in this past weekend, and was very impressed — perhaps more than I have been by the South Philly location, which is almost too full with records. The soul and hip-​hop was in particularly good stock. I found a great record from the classic Philly group First Choice of the «Philadelphia Sound» soul days. Also a decent selection of punk, metal, and new reissues of classics.
I can imagine their stock will only get better with time. Definitely nice to see a new place in West Philly, and right around the corner from me at that.

I live right above the store and am a vinyl junkie but have yet to go inside the store… ohh, this could be too convenient!!!