Tower Records.
J&R.
Sam Goody.
Lots more that I don’t remember.
I got the ones I really wanted from the music store at the mall but the bulk of my collection (120+) was built up from Columbia House.
Record stores.
I remember “Flip Side” and "Big Daddy’s"record store… oh Rolling Stones Record store on Harlem had great prices. I think I bought some cutout ones like Terry Reid in Venture. But I liked cool little ‘hole in the wall’ record stores that carried rare stuffs and imports. My dad was playing with sum-pump one day and ruined most of my some 1000 albums… well, covers since actual albums are okay but the covers got soaked, molded and stuck together. I still have them. I miss waiting to buy brand new release albums and checking out the cover while listening… oh and flipping to listen to B-side.
By the time I was buying, it was all CDs. There were two great stores in the Phoenix area: Stinkweeds and an indie store near ASU whose name I’ve forgotten.
Now I download all my music from Rhapsody.