Ace In the Hole Music Exchange

I am really impressed with this place. They are independent and locally owned, so that is enough reason to go there. It has a pretty good selection. The owner is genuinely happy to see customers and willing to help you find something. Will for sure choose here over Best Buy or other chain stores.

I’ve been going here for years, and though I moved to the other side of town and hadn’t been here in awhile it hasn’t changed. Glad it’s still here. Small independent stores can make it, but plenty have disappeared.
There’s a wide selection of genres and formats. Posters for local shows are outside. There’s some incense, stickers, shirts, patches, etc. In other words, an old-​school record store. The owner knows his customers, and will treat you like a regular. Even though I get most music online now, I will be back for some CDs.

I miss the ritual of finding music at small stores like this, even if I don’t miss the inflated prices. I was surprise this shop was still alive. I’d assumed it was dead a long time ago.
It has been four years since its last review but it’s still a stubborn ship holding steady in a digital storm. Small and reeking with a thick cloud of incense, it has that aging hippyish, easygoing feel – in the incense and the smell of rite dye of their psychedelic shirts displayed on a rack – a throwback to the 1990s obsession with the 1970s.
The hippy ethos seems obvious on entry. Outside duel speakers blare jam bands as you enter, bringing memories of High Street near 15^th. Inside the small shop is littered with unopened boxes on the floor. I am not sure if I like the authenticity of that, or am put off by the clutter. Inside are mostly CDs, some records. It had been awhile since I bought anything here. I couldn’t tell you the last time I bought a CD anywhere, actually.
Their CD selection is thinning faster than a grey Hippies hairline. It was once pretty good with tons of new and used CDs, both classic and contemporary. The price are about average for what remains of the towns record stores. I am disappointed in their vinyl selection. It seems weaker than Halfprice Books. They need to work on enlarging their collection, as it seems every other place in town is doing it. If music stores are to survive, they must become like baseball card stores – selling collectables and nostalgia.
Technology giveth and technology taketh away.

I go into Ace once, maybe three times a year. Mike always remembers you and is always ready for a nice chat up. If I lived closer I’d be in more often. His inventory can be limited (I believe that is as much a matter of location as of anything else.) but he has some great material to choose from. The difference is in attitude it’s always apparent that Mike appreciates your patronage and is always willing to help. This is direct opposition to what I get when I walk into Used Kids which is more akin to the geek superiority of High Fidelity without the humor. That difference is enough to make me choose Ace over Used Kids or Best Buy.

Its not Used Kids and it isn’t even what Singing Dog once was, plus the smell of incense is almost too cloying to tolerate — but once you get past all that this may be my second favorite current record store in Columbus.
New discs run slightly higher than Best Buy and Bargain discs run a bit more than Used Kids, but it is close, convenient, and you don’t have to deal with the parking hassel of Campus.

I love this place. I’ve been going here since it opened. I by no means am a fan of jam bands, the dead, phish, or anyone else of that genre. My favorite part about the store is Mike. He is awesome. Anytime I go in he remembers me. He is always willing to order me whatever I need. Te prices are reasonable too. Maybe a dollar more than at best buy for most things, but I’d spend more than that in gas to drive all the way out there. Also, I get to support an awesome guy and his Columbus based business. Check the place out, you’ll become a fan.

It’s easy to miss Ace in the Hole Music Exchange. It’s located between campus and Upper Arlington in a strip mall, and it’s more than a little out of the way over on Kenny Ave.
The place pretty much reeks of incense — both comforting and irritating at the same time. The stock follows suit. There are lots of tie-​dye shirts and jam band merchandise.
The CD selection is respectable enough. They also have a healthy selection of vinyl records.
Perhaps the best thing about Ace in the Hole is a very small thing: their selection of empty CD and DVD cases. Once upon a time it was easy to buy an individual CD case or two (and in multiple sizes… two, three and four-​disc cases). You still can at Ace in the Hole. Just try that at Best Buy.