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\n\tOne of the great music capitals of America, the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN) gave us Prince, The Replacements, Jam & Lewis, H\u00fcsker D\u00fc, Soul Asylum, The Time, Semisonic, The Jayhawks, Atmosphere and more. Not to mention serving as early stomping grounds for Minnesota-born legend Bob Dylan and, more recently, a pre-fame Lizzo as she cut her chops.<\/p>\n
\n\tGiven that history, it\u2019s no shock that the Twin Cities punches above its weight when it comes to record stores. While a lot of beloved spots have closed over the years, it\u2019s a testament to the city\u2019s thriving music culture that quite a few record stores have stayed open for 30-plus years now, still going strong after weathering the sharp decline in physical media consumption in the era of streaming (a trend that has happily begun to reverse). Even as Minnesota-based chain retailers such as Best Buy and Target have scaled back (or in some cases eliminated) their music offerings, these independent record stores are keeping physical music \u2013 CDs, vinyl and cassettes \u2014 alive in Minneapolis and St. Paul.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhether you\u2019re visiting and looking for a store to browse, a local collector looking for new crate-digging turf or someone just beginning to put together their physical music collection, these stores all come highly recommended. Some of them double as coffee shops, others include performance spaces \u2013 all of them are worth a trip (or 10). (On a personal note, it was at two of them \u2013 Eclipse and Cheapo \u2013 that I began to scoop up vinyl for a collection that\u2019s now in the thousands.)<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat follows is a breakdown of each store\u2019s space, selections, prices and general atmosphere. The descriptions are by no means comprehensive of everything each store carries. For each store (listed in alphabetical order), please check out its website and\/or socials before visiting to keep up to date on what days\/times the store is open, whether they\u2019re doing Record Store Day that year and what special events they may be hosting. Many of them sell titles online, too, and nearly all of them buy as well as sell.<\/p>\n