Oak Park Records

Is this place going out of business? This store has a terrible, picked-​over selection. Maybe I hit this on the wrong day, but there is nothing in there I would buy and I went through all the vinyl twice. The few new vinyl selections are B– records and all the rest was crap on this particular day. Even the «fresh in» section looked like the shop just picked out some random junk and put it in the bin. While I was in there, two other people came in, looked around a bit, and walked out without buying anything. I probably spent too much time in there in the hope of finding anything.

A nice little record shop, Can find some good records, etc.

I love the selection, layout, organization, and the employees here. I’m not sure if it was the shop owner who sold me my record today, but he was extremely polite, courteous, and helpful. Seeing as Rolling Stones has gone to hell this will probably be my next go-​to record shop outside of the downtown shops.

Traveled 10 miles after work to get there at 6:30pm (knowing that their open hours say 7pm) only to be greeted by a locked door and no explanation as to why.

Not a bad place at all. Found a copy of Queen’s The Game here for about half the price that another area record shop was asking. Good layout, too. Will be back.

Nice place, convenient and full of a variety of used records. It’s definitely based on what they have sold back to them so if you’re looking to spend a little time and see what gems rise to the top — you’ll enjoy it.
It’s got a neighborhood feel that I wish more stores had. The owner was approachable, and funny… We asked about an album that we couldn’t find and they had just gotten one from the artist in — it was behind the counter… We snagged it for 99 cents.
I saw a young guy come in and ask if he could market his guitar lessons in the store and they were happy to let him. That made me feel good too, community is important for small businesses.
Check this place out. It’s worth it.

A nice, wide selection of used records & cd’s. The place is very clean, organized and welcoming. It doesn’t have that dank smell of rotting records /​45’s that is commonplace in some record stores.
If you’re in the Oak Park area and seek a quality offering, then do yourself a favor and drop by Oak Park Records.
If you don’t know the background of a particular band, then Alan will be sure to give a history. If it isn’t too busy, he’ll play the full record over the store system while you’re shopping (he did this very thing for me; very nice).

I live right behind this place so I frequently drop in. However, every time I stop in the guy working never says anything. No «hi» or nothing. Makes me not want to come back.

I really enjoy going into the shop to see what Alan has gotten in lately. I always hit the new vinyl first, and as indicated on other reviews, the prices are a tad high. However, I am happy to pay that a local shop I can walk to from home. The used vinyl selection is also pretty good. Sometimes I do get a bit frustrated that the selection doesn’t turnover faster, but vinyl is about the experience and building a collection. If you’re too damned impatient to wait, buy an mp3 and call it a day. Used vinyl is in great shape and isn’t finger fu – ed like Val’s. Prices on used are more reasonable. After buying many, many new/​used records, and bootlegs, I buy with confidence and satisfaction.
Please support OPR!

Oak Park Records is a great record shop in the heart downtown Oak Park. They have a great selection of vinyl, movies, and used CDs. Alan is like the Yoda of music. He also may know more about the beatles then anyone in Chicago. If your an avid collector or just getting into music. Go see Alan he will steer you right.

Oak Park Records is a nice little record shop with a decent selection of used and new records. You could spend a few hours thumbing through the inventory and you’re bound to come across some hidden surprises. I like to pop in from time to time since it’s right off the green line at Oak Park Ave.

This place is less than a minute walking distance from my apartment and yet I’ve only been here once. When I wert there they had awesome soundtracks on vinyl (STAR WARS) and a great selection of VHS tapes. My roommateand I walked away with a nice little haul of old Disney favorites. Awesome place!

My husband has this dream of playing vinyl again one day… and Alan will help get him there. Link up with Oak Park Records on Facebook for a real treat– The owner has a great sense of humor and offers great service… also play dates! Keep up the great work, Alan.

One time I was offered a 15% discount because I said «please» and «thank you». Great customer service!

big fan of this place. Always has a great selection of new and used records in all genres. Alan is a good guy, and really takes care of the store and customers.
if your out in this area stop by and enjoy.
OH and one more important thing, Alan is not a record store tool you want to kick in the face.

Great selection of classic rock and jazz records, with a nice mix of common faire and less widely findable records and cds. Probably the best location of the three vinyl selling places in the Oak Park/​Forest Park area. The guy that runs the place is also super helpful and quite knowledgeable which makes for a good buying experience. A great aspect of this place is the fair pricing.
My one complaint is that the mark up on new vinyl records is a tad high at times, which sometimes makes me debate whether I want to buy a new record here or put the cash in my pocket until I have time to make the trip cross town to Reckless and pay a little less.
Now that Second Hand Tunes in Evanston and the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago have closed, Oak Park is #4 in my list of record stores overall in Chicagoland. That puts them up there with the «greats» everyone thinks of when they think of Chicago – Reckless, Dusty Groove, and Dave’s. Oak Park is also now #1 on my list of just the suburban Chicagoland shops.
Definitely worth stopping in!

The reason a lot of record store clerks are so crotchy is because they are offered boxes of unsaleable stuff, haggled with, and generally have to deal with a lot of nonsense. Do that and you’ll end up like Jack Black or his nebbish co-​worker.
Alan takes it all in stride and offers very personable service without a hint of ‘tude.
Like any awesome used record shop, he has a very dynamic inventory to satisfy the crate diggers. Lots of surprises to be found in the racks. Keep it up, Alan!

OPR is a great place to find a long lost CD/​Record that you just can’t find else where. As stated in the other reviews this was once a 2^nd Hand Tunes location but was bought out by the current owner. He has been a patron, worker and now owner of this location and really knows how to run a business. They are extremely knowledgeable on all types of music and can help you identify what you are looking for. They also do buy/​sell here as well.
Great addition to the neighborhood!

Like Hyde Park Records, this used to be a Djangos, and was bought out by a long time employee. This store has been spending the year sorting out the wheat from the chaff, so it hasn’t found its legs quite as quickly as Hyde Park. However it has great potential, with a large space and huge inventory. It appears the biggest demand in this neighborhood is for classic rock vinyl. Not exactly my bag, but it’s one to watch in the coming year.