Lou's Records — Attraction in Encinitas

DO NOT TRY TO SELL YOUR RECORDS HERE

Lovely experience with the owner today when I decided to free up some room on a shelf and sell some records I didn't want. As someone who has been buying, collecting, and selling records in the San Diego area for years, it's well known to avoid this shop. Lou's is regarded as more of a novelty store than a record store with any sense of the market.

Their selection of anything new or limited is at very best, laughable, and as i've seen on prior visits and today was cranked up to an 11, at their finest passive customer service and at their worst downright aggressive and confrontational. Seeing as most of the positive reviews appear to be friends of the owner or middle-aged tourists, i can assure you the selection is far from "eclectic." If you have any interest in limited releases, experimental or niche bands, or non-rock records, I highly recommend a store that has a pulse on new music as well as classic gems such as M-Theory or Cow Records.

Today out of laziness I decided to visit the store solely based on location and drove over with my stack of records all in near-mint quality. Somewhat excited (lord knows why) I came in and politely asked if they bought records, after all choosing to sell records is a business transaction. First red flag was when the owner more-or-less implied he only accepted store credit. No other shop in San Diego will do this, i repeat, NO other shop. Forcing a seller to get store credit is more or less stealing the sellers records and tricking the seller to walk away with less records for nothing.

I, still very politely, explained i was not looking for "store credit" but for cash which i guess is a trigger for the owner. He then very rudely asked for my ID after asking "Are these yours?", which I was happy to present to him. Already pretty offended by his initial implication my records were not mine, i became very apprehensive about a fair price for whatever he deemed worthy of money. The entire time he spent with a frown on his face, thumbing through my records with very little care or respect. After about 30 seconds he started interrogating me about them, asking once again with the implication they were stolen, "Why is this one sealed?" (the answer, which should go without saying, is I had more than one copy of that particular record) I then asked if there was some sort of issue or problem and he asked me to clarify so I, still politely, told him what he had said and his demeanor seemed to imply the records were stolen. He then, in his delusional paranoid state, seemed to think this had meant I was being defensive and doubled-down asking "Why? Are they stolen?" My jaw dropped. In the 3+ years i've sold my records, I have NEVER had an accusation like that hurled at me.

I had had enough of the absurd notion i was selling anyone's records but my own, and told him I'd take my records to a legitimate shop. Before leaving I asked "Are you the owner?", hoping this was just an awful employee having some sort of a bad day but to my disbelief again, he was in fact the owner. I drove my records down to M-Theory where they were happy to take my records for cash and a good price on all of them as well!

I've never written a bad review, seeing as most of the time things like this can be handled by a manager, but the almost humorous paranoia and aggressiveness of the OWNER of the shop is something that should be public.

Long story short, NEVER sell your records to this store and unless you're an out-of-touch Boomer such as the owner, I'd be pretty shocked if you could find anything of interest in their collection of poorly handled used bruce springsteen albums and...

People say that paper media is dead, but I don't believe that to be true. People say CD's are dead, but I also don't believe that to be true. With the invention of programs like Spotify and Pandora people are able to listen to music they want with/out purchasing. Also they can have it all stored just like they would any other electronic form.

Like all us CD playing people who said vinyl was dead and that's lasted I believe CD's will stick around too for a while, for collectors and novelty, but not as a main music listening source.

I've been coming to Lou's for 15+ years to get CD's. Granted I don't go as much now and sometimes I would just get tickets, t-shirts or other music merch. It's not so much about the music, but the music experience, listening, sifting, looking at the cover art and whatnot. Getting the super rare, getting the underground stuff you can't even find online like ITunes.

At the height they had the large building and expanded and now they just have the expansion. Still the cruddy old parking lot with stickers all over. Still the smell of vinyl, paper, plastic all around, but their selection has dwindled from having rare heat to what amounts to some guys collection of unwanteds. They the latest releases and undergrounds, but it's kind of uninviting seeing VHS, used DVD's and stuff everywhere. I used to love Lou's, loved opening new cd's (I got really good and could undo the plastic and hinges in seconds). I'll always remember it in its prime and not for what it's degraded into.

Service has become spare, but still very helpful, enthusiastic and nice. Prices for most things has barely gone up over time. The shack vibe has lost its luster and means less to me now. Reviewing this has motivated me to sell my entire cd collection to them, I know I'll get pennies, not on the dollar, but pennies, but that's ok. I should probably just donate it and only keep my hard to find, rare stuff. I feel like I'm...

Terrible experience shopping here recently. The person at the counter which I am assuming is the owner but unsure, stared at my African American teenager the whole time we were looking at records in the hip hop section. He legit did not take his eyes off my son. He had a serious look on his face. It was rather uncomfortable and it puzzled me for a bit until I realized the issue after talking to my son.

He offered assistance to others there but not us. There were other teens there, too but since my son was the only black person there, the person felt the need to keep his eyes on him and make my child feel very uncomfortable as if he was going to steal something.

It’s 2021 Lou Records. I used to spend a lot of money there every year for Xmas. Once I started taking my son with me, you showed your true colors.

Disappointed but will not let this bring us down. There are plenty of small business who actually treat their customers regardless the color of their skin or race with dignity...