2nd Avenue Records is a staple PDX record shop located nearby the Downtown/Chinatown area. Street parking is the way to go and there is tons of it around the area. Inside, they have a pretty nice setup with lots of records to dig through. Prices are very fair and they have a solid selection across different genres. The staff here are very chill and welcoming. You could definitely stop by for some crate digging and then walk around all the other shops in the area as well. read more

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Great place. Tons of vinyl, though most of what I saw was new reissues (as opposed to your local used record store). Had some Interesting Beatles collections that were begging me to drop large sums of money, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Staff if helpful in a funky record store sort of way. (It's not Disney World, for God's sake! ) I'll likely duck in each time I'm in Portland, just for posterity and all. read more

Had a great selection and it was very much vintage themed even down to the receipts given and the way they write down their inventory. read more

2nd Avenue Records - Record I bought from this establishment - Music & DVDs Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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In today's world, almost all of the records hereare re-prints. That means a new pressing is $20 for an album. Or more. That makes it like any other record store selling new product. They are a couple of areas in the shop where they do still have some vintage wheres. Mostly that's classical, but they have a section of new arrivals which is about two bins in the rear of the store-- those could be from almost any genre and I have scored some nice vinyl from there. This used to be an awesome store, and there's nothing wrong with it now. It's just that it has become a lot harder for independent operators to focus on getting in quality used vinyl. That doesn't seem to be their business model. If that's your thing, this is no longer the place to go. But if you want a nice selection of new lps with a 1980s punk and metal grunge feel to the shop, this is still a good option. Note: they do blast the tunes, so bring some earplugs or be into high decibel sound levels. read more

A really cool local record shop with a nice selection of punk and rock. Not a giant place but it's densely packed with a lot of gems.

Out of all the record stores I've visited in Portland, this is one that I marked to visit for sure. It's got a nice underground feel to it although it's above ground. I've been to multiple record stores in Portland on my visit; this place had the most records that appealed to me. Found a lot of items from the 50's-60's that popped up. I didn't see a listening station there which would've been nice because I likely would've bought more if I could get a taste of some that I wanted. Alas time was not on my side so had to hurry. They carry some new sealed ones but the best bets are the used. Rock section and 50's-60's section have the best selection. Rock on! read more

2nd Avenue Records - So many! - Music & DVDs Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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Absolutely amazing record store,the single best place to get underground metal albums in Portland,they always have a ridiculously good selection of metal CDs and the employees always are very knowledgeable,these are the albums I got here yesterday,please support this business Portland needs more places like this for metal heads and music lovers alike read more

2nd Avenue Records - Cds from store - Music & DVDs Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Went to store May 8, 2021- max 10 and store hours 12-5pm daily. Must wear masks and be mindful of others. Great store for rock fans, with tons of various t-shirts too. Great place to visit! read more

2nd Avenue Records - New store hours as of 4/30/2021 and maximum 10 people at a time... - Music & DVDs Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Great record store, the employers we very quick and nice. It wasn't greatly organized but I had a great time visiting! read more

2nd Avenue Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Amazing record store! They have an excellent punk and metal selection. Picked up some vinyl from a punk band from the Eighties and a T shirt! They have a huge selection of band shirts also. read more

Conceited staff, asked one of them a question and they didn't even look up to acknowledge me, just shook their head and acted like i wasn't there; god forbid i needed help finding something, he probably would've had a meltdown. Store was crammed with boxes and unorganized, place barely holds a flame to Millennium, no reason to come back.. unless i needed a low quality bootleg tee i guess read more

Another Portland spot that reminds of the unassuming, affordable, and eclectic record stores I grew up frequenting before records were cool again. Where else can you find a Kool Keith Black Elvis shirt? read more

Great little store! Staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Perfect way to spend an afternoon.

My absolute favorite place in the world. Amazing prices. They beat the chains up the street. Owners and staff are super nice and helpful. Super wide variety on genre. Lots of gems and great pressings on those shelves. Only place I shop for records. Also. The merch on the ceiling is amazing. Great prices there as well. I have a few shirts and hoodies. I live out in Cannon Beach and try to come in once every month to visit. Love this place forever! read more

2nd Avenue Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Portland, Oregon

If you're into new vinyl or looking for something super specific than this is the place for you. If your not get yourself over to crossroads and browse their ample vinyl selection. read more

My siblings and I make a yearly trip together and always find a record store to go to while in the area. We went to one earlier today but it didn't have any shirts, stickers, or posters available. Just pretty simple. This one has tons of shirts! I didn't find the poster I was looking for but it still had a good variety to offer. I purchased two t-shirts and a John Lennon album for my mom. I'm super happy with the purchases and the person helping us out was great. Plus Mike Ness was playing which was awesome! read more

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The best. A downtown staple. Great selection of heavy metal records. Lots of T-Shirts from Classic Rock to Rap. Including their own Shirts which are awesome quality and logo. The long sleeved ones are my favorite. Helpful Staff. Tunes blaring giving you plenty of inspiration of prime cuts to get on vinyl, CD or even some tapes. Don't forget to support the cats and kitten with the donation plate at the cash register. If you are not going here for your music needs, you are missing out. read more

Cheap bastards! Wouldn't let me buy a record that was priced at 2.99 because of the 4 or 4.99 minimum for paying with card BULLSHIT. LOL. Idk if its a Portland thing or what but yeah that was super fucking lame after waiting in line for like 10 minutes. Post a sign outside or something.. Nice place with helpful folks, but damn yeah you're getting a 1 star for that one. read more

This store has a great selection of mostly new vinyl. The CDs are a pain in the ass to access, but I rarely buy CDs so it doesn't matter to me. This place is classic! read more

Hands down my favorite record shop in Portland. Most shops seem to focus on a particular genre. Green Noise Records is punk/garage, 360 Vinyl is hip hop and electronic and 2nd Avenue is Indie rock, punk and metal BUT have great rap, jazz and reggae sections too. I never leave without finding a highly sought after item and to date it's been the only place I've ever seen Watain vinyl in a shop. It took me a while to warm up to the place because it doesn't have a parking lot apart from street parking and during the day that can be hard to find. But it is close to a max stop if so that can be an option for those wanting to check this place out. It's probably best that parking isn't more convenient otherwise I'd be here way more often than I already am. The prices are the best in town. I found "Adore" by Smashing Pumpkins brand new original press for only 15$ on my first visit. The staff is friendly and will help you out if you ask questions but will usually leave you alone to dig to your hearts content. They do carry a small selection of CD's but they are behind the counter under glass. It's "Hoarder-esque" interior can be a bit intimidating at first (even the ceiling space is utilized to display a rather extensive collection of punk & metal shirts), and certainly don't expect to see everything on your first visit. There is music crammed into every nook and cranny of this place. If you love music and vinyl, then you owe it to yourself to shop here. read more

2nd Avenue Records - Inside - Music & DVDs Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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I was disappointed that most of their albums were remastered copies, the store is small and sorted by genre. If you are looking for old records by a popular artist, I don't think it's your best option read more

Vinyl records galore sold here. Lots of options from your favorite rock bands to the current acts on the radio. I saw a decent rap section here as well. They have a good selection of tees as well from rap and rock artists. The person working here was helpful to my GF searching for a specific tee. He also made great recommendations on things to do in the area, which we actually followed up on one of his suggestions. Thanks and kudos to that guy! read more

Awesome selection compare to other stores, crap service. They dont care about pleasing customers, business flows in steadily. Dont expect a greeting or a thanks for coming when you buy here. Amazing selection though, so just give them cash and get out. read more

This is what I picture in my mind when I think of a genuine local record store: pure substance, not an inch of space is wasted. Staff are tremendous, and they do a great job with social media which usually ends with me rushing over every Friday to fill my 2nd Avenue Records record tote. Ps. Their t-shirt selection is hands-down the best you will find in Portland. read more

Very overwhelming when you walk in. Stuff just everywhere. But this is my OCD. So moving past that found some good stuff. Some vinyl priced like what you would expect. Some a little more expensive, but I'm sure that's how it goes. If I ever find myself out here. I will stop by. read more

To the chump who hung up on me - Miles Davis did, in fact, have an album called Big Fun. It is amazing how consistently condescending the employees at this store have been for the past 30 years. read more

2nd Avenue Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Shop elsewhere. I went in earlier today and was pleased with the selection of vinyls. I noticed a lot of rare albums that I've been searching for. I found one that I was particularly excited about, and upon noticing the plastic wrap already ripped slightly, I went to the front to ask if I could just open it all the way to inspect the condition of the record before buying. I was immediately accused of ripping it open myself, and was told I had to purchase it since I opened it. I was shocked. I tried to explain that I found it that way but they wouldn't listen to me. I was speaking to Todd at this point. Todd then asked me how many vinyls I owned, which I answered, and he said the exact words "Your inexperience is showing." I said "Excuse me?" and he said "So in all of your years of living, you have never seen a bootlegged record before?" I tried to explain that I have, and that's why i wanted the record, but Todd was ridiculing me and being condescending. I cannot believe someone would speak to a paying customer this way. I did buy the record, because I've been searching for it for months, and when he handed me back the change I had to yank it out of his hands because he would not let go. Creepy, unprofessional, and immature. I will never go back here, nor will any of my friends, family, and I hope you don't either. Terrible experience. read more

One Of the Best in Portland! I could browse, chat and listen to music all afternoon at this place. The staff is always super helpful and knowledgeable. They have a unique and deep stock selection that changes frequently. The atmosphere is geared toward music lovers of all genres. They get an extra star for their tee shirt collection. Ever changing and awesome selection of shirts from every era of rock music. I have found some real gems here, right off the rack. They have one of the greatest inventories of rock tees in the city. If you are in the neighborhood, you should drop in regularly. But it's also worth the trip to downtown even if you're in the burbs. Check this place out. You'll be glad you did. read more

One should adjust my rating according to your needs. If you love buying vinyl you should add a star. If that isn't your thing you should subtract one. This is a store that just sells vinyl. They do have some CDs but they are randomly organized. I was pretty impressed with some of the records that they have. If that's your thing this is definitely a place to hit read more

Awesome selection of metal, rock, and jazz! This is a candy store for vinyl aficionados!! read more

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In terms of CD selection, especially when it comes to rare and local stuff, this is probably the second best shop I've been to in the Pacific Northwest (second only to Everyday Music on Sandy in Portland.) I've found all sorts of gems digging through the boxes here - stuff that isn't on Ebay/Amazon/Discogs, stuff that I can't even find info on online! The vinyl selection isn't as good, but can still rival most shops in the Portland area. Prices are also very reasonable, especially considering the rarity of a lot of the stuff here. For these reasons, this place gets an automatic 4.5/5. It definitely doesn't get the 5/5 score though for a number of reasons. The biggest reason is the fact that you can't dig through the cds without asking someone behind the desk to get a specific box of cds for you to dig through (and this can take some time, especially since you can only look through 2-3 boxes at most at once.) This is extremely inconvenient - if it's fueled by theft concerns, the shop could easily invest in theft cases as other shops in the area do. The shop itself is also pretty dark and crowded. I get that this may be popular for "real" vinyl diggers and such - but they could organize things a bit more I think? Parking is also a big issue - which isn't the shop's fault, but does affect how often I visit the place. I'll also note that the staff can sometimes seem standoffish - while other times the same people are very friendly. So yeah - definitely visit this place. There's a handful of cons, but in the categories that matter the most, it gets all the points. read more

I really like this place - among my favorite spots to shop for vinyl in Portland. They've got a great selection of classic rock, jazz, and heavy metal. Most is new but the prices are among the lowest I've found. read more

Although it appears chaotic at first glance, I thought this place was pretty cool. They seemed to have a surprisingly decent selection of fifties/sixties, rockabilly, blues, and jazz in addition to everything in all the usual categories. There didn't appear to be a listening station, but they had a great selection of music T shirts - including many original vintage ones. It's definitely a great place to browse vinyl, but I still find it hilarious that they also have a bunch of cassettes. Two thumbs up read more

I would like to give this place a zero star review to spite them for the many times I have entered the store with little to no money to spend, and left with a stack or rare Vinyl and a deep concern on how the electric bill will now get paid... Alas, this is my favorite record store in Portland. I have came across things in this store that I have only seen (or could not even find) on Ebay\Amazon... Radiohead's "Radioshow- Live performance"-Check The Black Keys -Blackroc Project - Check! Portishead - 1997 Live performance of Dummy - Check! Original Press of Snoop Dogg Doggystyle! - Check! They have a vast selection of Rock,Hip-Hop,Metal and Harcore. The store is a bit cluttered but everything in the store is worth digging through. Knowledge able staff, thanks to the 50-60 year old clerk\lady who asked my girlfriend if she had searched the Hardcore section when looking for an At The Drive In Album. (not quite sure why a 60 year old lady talking about Hardcore is funny to me...) If your looking for Vinyl this is an awesome place to check out. Everyday Music wins on volume Music Millenium wins on Nostalgia 2nd Ave wins on Quality and Reliability (it is the Toyota Camry of record stores!) read more

Nice smaller record store. They have a lot of product and records, but everything is surprisingly easy to locate and the layout lends itself to not being as overwhelming as one may think upon first waking in. Their prices are really decent, they are well stocked, friendly, and have a perfect balance of rare and common stuff. Just a cool place to browse for a while. read more

Hello heaven! Prepare yourself for an adventure! Make sure you have enough change for parking!! This place will make time disappear. I am thrilled that there is such a fantastic place in town for record shopping! Take your time to browse through all the genres and you won't be disappointed! Plus, they have baby clothes and a serious selection of band tees! Enjoy! read more

Meh is right.... I've been coming here for about 20 years and have dropped good money on music and memorabilia as I am a collector. Just went into the store and had a less than stellar customer service experience. Just because I don't have tattoos and dress like I am into metal equaled me being ignored, glared at, and made to feel out of place. LAME. Sorry I dropped my goth industrial attire years ago and still like the music yet am not cool in your eyes. Jerks. I'll stick to other stores and ebay where there is the same product selection. The only person working here who is rad is the lady that has been here for a long time. She's nice and friendly. So dudes at 2nd Ave, wake up and smell the customer service coffee, its part of what makes a customer return. read more

My name is Sean and I'm a record junkie Second Avenue Records is a wonderful record store. I look forward to walking in here at lunchtime and seeing Cathy behind the counter listening to the freakin Melvins or Dead Moon at 90 decibels. Shit cracks me up to see someone close to my mom's age rocking out like that. I love it. I'm in here a few times a month. Shhh..don't tell my wife or she'll put me back on an allowance. As far as vinyl goes, they have it all here. Jazz, World, Soul, Punk, Country, RockABilly, Metal. Whatever you're into. Original editions, limited editions, reissues. And the prices are always fair. Always a dollar or two cheaper than Jackpot. They have an excellent selection of CDs too. Check them out and support your local, independent record stores. read more

This is easily my favorite record store in Portland. No pretentious hipsters sneering at your selections, lots of choices in every genre, awesome punk music blaring throughout the store and the best metal/hardcore selection in Portland. The store space is quite large and is jammed full of records. I like a large variety of music, and I even found the more obscure albums and artists here. Prices are reasonable, and it's like a fun treasure hunt. I also love their discount bins that have some real gems in there, though you have to dig through lots of oddities to do so. This is what record stores should be like, instead of being run by coffee sipping creative arts majors talking down to you about their favorite band; that you obviously have never heard of. I will be returning here very soon, and then again and again. read more

The best heavy metal record store in America. Incredible selection of vinyl and CDs. Very helpful and friendly staff. I went through boxes and boxes of well organized metal CDs and pulled out 13 albums. Eventually I had to force myself to stop looking. I left $165 poorer, but very very happy. I wish I lived in Portland so that I could return on a regular basis. Highly recommended for metal, hardcore, punk, and even hip-hop. Lots of rare and hard to find albums. Goldmine! read more

2nd Avenue Records - Music & DVDs Near Me - Portland, Oregon