This question especially goes out to those in medium to small cities,like here in Albuquerque,that has a population of 545,862 and 182 square miles.

How many actual record stores do you have in your city or town?With the demise a few months ago of local institution Natural Sound,we are down to three.

http://alibi.com/music/40221/R-I-P-Natural-Sound.html

Natural Sound opened in 1970,in a small historic,turn of the century house,on 111 Harvard SE.It has since been demolished.I started going there a few years later,and I still have the first record I bought there,an original early Contra Band Music "manila folder"  a Beatles bootleg I bought for $6.00.Many of my rarest rock Lps came from there.At that time there were fifteen twenty record stores in Albuquerque.Including three that had been in business since the late thirties to early fifties,and never sent anything unsold back.

Natural Sound then moved here for a few years.

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/route66/nob_hill_shopping_center_albuquerque.html

In 1984 the still much missed Bow Wow Records opened.
http://bowwowrecords.bigcartel.com/about

We now have three stores,Nob Hill Music,which is the size of an average kids bedroom,and has a selection the size of a small record show booth,Mecca Books and Music,and Charliey's.That is it.Mecca is run by a guy who is one of my main competitors for records at the Goodwill Clearance Center bins.This is where most of his used inventory comes from.Charley's
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Charleys-33s-CDs/139898649361786
Charley's is one of  these stores that looks impressive when you first go in,because there are so many records there.Then you looking through the bins,and see all the junk.The decent stuff is on the wall,and way overpriced.Two things I recall from my last trip there were a VG+ mono copy of "The Times They Are A Changing" for $175.00,and a VG copy of "Is It Man or Astroman?" for $30.00.No 7" by the way.

Last year,they were still putting high dollar classical,like early British Decca stereos,or interesting old reggae/calypso/African music in the ninety nine cent and dollar ninety nine bins.No more.Now they know what they have here,too.So unless you live in a city like New York,or San Francisco,is there pretty much a similar situation everywhere?


Roger