CD Alley

Pretty disappointed that I’m not able to give this store much of a review. Don’t believe the signs on the door/​online stating it opens at 11 a.m. I’ve been waiting here for 45 minutes past with no sign of movement inside.

Love this little discovery. I walked into what I imagine my collection of music looks like in my head. Vinyls and CDs!
I always like to go to different stores for my vinyl and book hunt.
This place was like whoa! I was overwhelmed with all the good selections but over all, this place is pretty rad and fully stocked.

Awesome place! Great organization and prices. Much better than any place in the DC area.

I passed through Chapel Hill for the first time recently while moving from Florida to Northern Virginia, and I made a trip to this record store based on positive Unilocal buzz. I’m glad I visited, as this is a high-​quality shop!
Located on the University of North Carolina campus, CD Alley isn’t a very big record store but it makes the most of its limited space. The place is stuffed with new and used CDs and LPs, with rock being the main theme.
The stock is well chosen; it’s almost as if the new (i.e., sealed) CDs in the store were selected by a rock critic with great taste. By the time I was done looking, I had to put several items back because I had picked up so many CDs I was considering to buy.
The store has a good amount of new, still-​sealed vinyl if that’s your bag. There’s a music magazine stand as well, plus some top-​notch CD box sets behind the counter. This is a gem of a store in a cool college town!

they got everything!!!

Hands down my favorite record shop for the last 10 years. It’s a small shop, but it’s always packed floor to ceiling with records, CDs, and DVDs. If they don’t have it, and it’s still in print, they can find it for you. In my experience, the staff has always been friendly, and the selection is always staggering. Even if I go in just to kill some time, I end up leaving with a new record.
Highly recommended

Very Cool Store! Charming Hole-​in-​the-​Wall in a truly complementary sense!
Some Vinyl records, mostly CD’s and Categories I have never heard of! Bands and Artists I have never heard of, which is a GREAT sign that I’m in the right place for discovering my next favorite band or at least something new!
The guy working here was very friendly and helpful! Mostly Used merchandise which means you get a great price!

I decided to come here on a whim after class one day and i was itching for some new tunes. To begin, this place is LOADED with goodies! There was quite a selection and I was a little overwhelmed — once you walk in, every wall is covered with vinyl, dvd’s, or cd’s. Also, there are quite a few bins with 98 cent — $ 2.89 priced records and other deals. Knowledgeable and friendly staff. I literally walked up with a record and said «what the hell is this?» and the guy working went to the computer and looked it up with me. Annnnd, since I was already chatting about music with the clerk, I asked for some recommendations! Needless to say i left CD Alley with quite a few new records.

Awwww yeah. Total record store score here! Awesome selection, both new and used. Bad ass music playing and even some tasty bargain bins. Audiophile ecstasy!
The place is tight quarters, but a thirst for vinyl will give a claustrophobic the strength of millions when going through CD Alley’s bins. Be prepared to spend some time here. Extra points for having a hip hop section.

CD Alley is one of the finest CD and record stores I have been to. Their selection of a wide variety of genres of music-​old soul and R and B, current indie rock, avant garde and experimental, alt country, jazz, blues, Tropicalia, Ye-​Ye, etc is incredible. Furthermore, the prices were great, and the staff was very knowledgeable AND extremely friendly! My only complaint was the heat, since this is a store in the south with no AC! Nevertheless, I had a great time talking to the staff, and left with about eight CDs-​some new and some used.

Best cd store in town, with lots of selection. They have new and used CDs, as well as vinyl. Great taste in rock (at least matches me well). The used CDs are priced a little high.

This is without a doubt the best record store in the area (I prefer it to Schoolkids Records in Raleigh). The staff is always very helpful and willing to give recommendations. The vinyl selection is great, but is definitely more geared to newer indie rock releases. However, there are some really great soul, jazz, and eclectic world music reissues on labels such as Sublime Frequencies, Soul Jazz, and the Numero Group. For those who are interested in CD’s, the used selection is always great (be sure to check out the shelf of used new arrivals).

Please buy an air conditioner

I was in Chapel Hill for a brief stint, but luckily I spotted this tiny looking record store while driving. I was expecting to walk around for an hour or two before I found a decent record store (or any vinyl at all) since my brother has 0 knowledge of the local scene.
This small store, and I use the term «small» objectively, is jam packed with music. Not only are the walls and beneath-​table-​bins bursting at the seams with CDs and LPs, but they are meticulously organized by name. Band names. There was a tab for M. Ward, the Fiery Furnaces, Otis, you get the idea. I loved it. It made browsing pretty damn efficient. Record stores in DC will have a tab that says «Beatles» and that’s about in-​depth as it gets. It’s probably good this place is where it is, because I would be billy goat broke otherwise. The other thing I loved about Cd Alley was all the current releases they carried. I bought the new Grizzly Bear and Peter, Bjorn, and John albums. They don’t just pander to hip new sounds, the older contemporaries were there; I picked up «Post-​War», «Blueberry Boat», and «Reconstruction Site» as well. Unfortunately, I only budgeted $ 100. :-/​
Places like this are typically breeding grounds for pretentious hipster store clerks who think they are too good to ring up the albums you selected… because your taste sucks. The clerk I ran into looked like he could have been like that. Instead I was pleasantly surprised by a chatty and knowledgeable man. We talked briefly and all was 5 stars in the world.
Definitely coming back here in July.
p. s.- prices here aren’t a bargain, but they aren’t a rip off either. When you find what you actually want in a format that most consider «out-​dated», that’s the real deal.

Now that Schoolkids has closed, buyers of music are forced to branch out to maybe Back Door CD’s (so so…) or the far superior CD Alley. What is there not to love about this store? It is cramped, somewhat disorganized, and cheap. New CD’s are usually under $ 14, and used ones under $ 7. They also sell a lot of vinyl. This is a great place to browse with nothing in particular in mind. I feel so much better buying from here than Border’s or something. What a great record store.

I’m not entirely partial since my friends worked at CD Alley… but I’m still looking for another local record shop that can compare.
You can get lost in the alphabatized used section, the compilations and genre sectrions, and the newly acquired stacks on the checkout desk. You have to come often just to keep up. All at a reasonable price. Plus there’s the listening couch if you’re still unsure, and very opinionated employees.
Every time I’m back in NC I stop by hoping for some new gold.

I must confess that I wasn’t entirely familiar with CD Alley until Schoolkids closed several months ago. I’ve visited many times since then, and I’m usually able to find what I’m looking for and then some. On the rare occasion that I can’t find the album I want by digging through the selection, the staff is happy to help. They are knowledgeable and entirely courteous. Prices are reasonable for anyone still willing to pay for music. The place is a little small and congested at times, but it can’t be easy for an independent record store to pay rent on Franklin St. when everyone is buying music from ITunes instead.

Support music stores!
Best record store in Chapel Hill (and, since Schoolkids closed, the only record store in Chapel Hill that isn’t used-​only.)
The selection is decent — it leans toward the well-​known indie stuff, but then, so do a lot of places. Plus you don’t get the feeling there like you did at Schoolkids that you weren’t cool enough to set foot in the place.
You can also buy Cat’s Cradle tickets there — they have the schedule posted on the door.

This store may be small but it is jam packed with CDs and records just waiting to be dug through.
Great selection of new and used things and if you have a little bit of time to dig you’ll be sure to find some gems!

If you’re looking for a hard-​to-​find CD, your best bet is CD Alley. The store may be small, but inside you’ll find an excellent selection of new music and the most extensive used selection in the triangle. Be sure to check out the CDs on the counter since those are the new arrivals of used cds and it’s where you’ll typically find the best stuff.