Hey Jimbo, JohnG, Charles, Glenn S and other Imwaners. Christmas in July for you guys.

Let us know what you think.




Rick A.

Do you have an address?

I see nothing at their website about a store in NYC, but my fingers are crossed that this is real.

Perhaps this is the info we're looking for, according to this May 20th post at stereogum.com:
http://www.stereogum.com/1682632/amoeba ... tion/news/

I've highlighted the key points:
Amoeba Music is a West Coast institution and one of the last titanic independent record shops standing. (Actually, there’s three of them: one in LA, one in Berkeley, and one in San Francisco.) Urban Outfitters is a massively successful retail chain that has helped develop indie rock into a profitable lifestyle product by way of selling vinyl, hosting concerts, and other such endeavors. The two companies are joining forces on a new project that will bring Amoeba to the East Coast and theoretically offers indie cred to Urban Outfitters. Beginning 6/7, Amoeba will sell exclusive vinyl releases at the massive new Urban Outfitters “lifestyle desination” in New York’s Herald Square. Explains a press release, Amoeba will stock “a curated assortment of over 400 vintage vinyl titles that can only be found in Urban Outfitters Herald Square.” The 57,000-square-foot facility will also include collaborations with Hairroin Salon, the eyewear company Tortoise & Blonde, and the indie-rock-friendly Chicago coffee company Intelligentsia. (They’re the ones who just released St. Vincent’s signature blend.)

This is the 13th NYC-area Urban Outfitters store, and it follows closely on the heels of a big (but not quite this big) UO location that just opened in Williamsburg much to the consternation of locals.

Looks like it to me. I see the Crossley sign.

"Beginning 6/7..." So this has been up and running for over a month, and no one has noticed. Bodes well...

Personally, I don't do vinyl, so no visible jewel cases, no visit from me.

I love vinyl but unless they're selling used records at reasonable prices I have no need to visit this store. I don't get any pleasure out of browsing through racks of brand-new 180-gram vinyl priced at $25 or more. Let the youngsters, hipsters and independently wealthy enjoy it.

Amoeba-lite, but good job by them to extend the brand through strategic partnership. It's very unlikely that they'd open a standalone New York store in the current market.

Considering how tiny an actual amoeba is, it's hard to imagine an amoeba-lite. That would require one heck of a microscope.

I hadn't heard of this, and given the specifics, I feel no pressing need for a visit. Not in the market for vintage vinyl titles these days. Even so, the addition of a new record store in NYC is a welcome development.

When they say "vintage vinyl" I wonder if they're talking about highly collectable original records or newly-manufactured 180-gram pressings of vintage titles. Either way, I'm sure they're ridiculously overpriced. I'll take a yard sale or thrift store any day over that.

This was already in Hoffman.......as said above, not a real Amoeba.

My hopes were dashed.

Sounds like very disappointing news. Missed opportunities.

Rick A.

There's been vinyl in one of these stores in the Cherry Hill Mall for years down here in NJ.

It's just vinyl for hipsters. New albums and vintage albums. All overpriced.

It's a joke.

This looks like the exact same model-it's Urban Outfitters after all.

Couldn't agree more, Pete. I was in an Urban Outfitters about a year ago and couldn't believe the overpriced vinyl they had. According to a rep at my company's distributor (a very large independent music & video distributor), Urban Outfitters is the top seller of vinyl in the US of all non music-specific stores. Not sure if that's quantity or dollars, but apparently that portion of their business is doing very well. I guess the only difference now is that they're adding the Amoeba name which should help increase sales.

Looks like Urban Outfitters much more than Amoeba.

Probably overpriced, and the Crosley junk is always a turn off to me.

Please, for Renny's sake, stop picking on Crosley.

That damn David Crosley seems to show up in every thread.
If I was walking past Herald Square I would certainly take a gander. But I am also not a vinyl collector anymore. I leave that to the hipsters.

I thought this was another Sidney Crosley-bashing thread.

At least you guys are finally leaving Bill Crosley alone with his pudding pops.

My thoughts exactly. I'd rather come home with a bag full of cheap vinyl finds than one overpriced reissue that I'd be scared to play lest I get a speck of dust on it. Still, if I lived in NYC I'd at least have to check this place out, although I suspect I'd leave empty-handed.

I do like vintage vinyl -- I wish they would open a real Amoeba in NYC. While not everything in the SF one was cheap when I visited, I did find lots of reasonably priced stuff to buy.

But Urban Outfitters I'm not too interested in. On the other hand, the more young people get interested in vinyl (and other physical media), the better it is for us old collectors.

The real Amoeba in California!