2nd Avenue Records

So… your favorite (death metal, crust punk, hip-​hop, etc.) t-​shirt has seen better days. It’s holey, its sleeves are falling off and you’ve dropped more food on it than you care to remember. This is the place you go to in Portland. And, while you are there be sure to designate a good hour to browse their music offerings.
2^nd Ave exudes everything a record store that’s been doing great things for 30+ years should. The air smells and tastes of cardboard and vinyl. Musical obscurities blare through the speakers. The counter and floors are aged and crusty. You could say the same for the staff which is to say they are seasoned music afficionados, but not the pretentious hipsters you may run into at that other regional record store in town.
Music is their business. You should support it as long and as often as you can: T-​shirts, stickers, buttons, patches, cd’s, cassettes, vinyl — LP’s and 7″, new, used, blues, jazz, folk, punk, metal, reggae, hip-​hop, indie, rock…

It’s a fun place if you’re not looking for any particular records, but their quirky unconventional categories made searching for a particular record really frustrating. And no listening station.

Great local record store in Portland! The store was very well organized and labeled. Artists are labeled-​even some smaller groups. Especially impressive were the organized 45s by artist. Very good selection from rock to punk to reggae. A little pricey, but I found some great picks I had been looking for. Happy I found this place!

Hello heaven!
Prepare yourself for an adventure! Make sure you have enough change for parking! This place will make time disappear.
I am thrilled that there is such a fantastic place in town for record shopping!
Take your time to browse through all the genres and you won’t be disappointed!
Plus, they have baby clothes and a serious selection of band tees!
Enjoy!

This is easily my favorite record store in Portland. No pretentious hipsters sneering at your selections, lots of choices in every genre, awesome punk music blaring throughout the store and the best metal/​hardcore selection in Portland.
The store space is quite large and is jammed full of records. I like a large variety of music, and I even found the more obscure albums and artists here. Prices are reasonable, and it’s like a fun treasure hunt. I also love their discount bins that have some real gems in there, though you have to dig through lots of oddities to do so.
This is what record stores should be like, instead of being run by coffee sipping creative arts majors talking down to you about their favorite band; that you obviously have never heard of. I will be returning here very soon, and then again and again.

This is one of my favorite shops in town. It reminds of my childhood. You can find anything here. Trust me. Look below as your searching from the bins. MORE RECORDS. Its insane. GO NOW!

This record store is amazing. the staff is super friendly and helpful. They have a ton of obscure bootleg b/​side vinyl CDs and cassettes. I can’t recommend this store enough!

This is the perfect record store! Tons of everything in stock. All genres of cool shit. A million t-​shirts. A million stickers and patches and whatnot.
The guy who runs the place was supercool, and knew everything we wanted to know. Very helpful, and very groovy!
There were 30 t-​shirts MINIMUM that I wanted to leave with, but I chose a Minor Threat tee and 30 stickers instead.
I saw a ton of great vinyl — it’s really quite the spectacle! Milwaukee used to have Atomic Records, which was fantastic — I loved that place… this place is better. He had a holographic Takes a Nation of Millions!!!
Then I saw it. I’ve been looking for PiL — Album on vinyl for years. Yes, I know. I could get it online in 4 seconds, but if you’re a collector, you know why it had to be an in-​store find.
STAY OPEN FOREVER, Y’all!

This place is über cool! I was visiting Portland, stumbled across it and decided to go inside. Like other reviewers said, the store appears to be an unorganized mess. The heaps of vinyl records and CDs would probably reach the ceiling if it weren’t for the countless t shirts that hang from the rafters. However, the staff miraculously know where things are. I asked for a disc from The 101ers and in seconds the clerk reached into the record abyss and pulled it out. Actually, it’s neat to see a store that doesn’t have everything in its place – a real break from the chain store sameness that we are accustomed to nowadays. I was impressed with the selection of punk and reggae. And I hadn’t seen so many t shirts from cool bands in one place anywhere until I visited this place. Next time I visit Portland, I will bring a shopping list.

This store is my favorite! I love the T-​Shirts and Stickers. I cannot come here without buying a new shirt. Great to look at vinyl. Can never look at everything. Fun destination!

Stopped by on a recent visit to Portland and I found this store via Unilocal.The selection of new and used vinyl is great and the staff were very friendly in answering any questions.
They also had a good selection of punk records that were on sale and I was able to find some nice additions to the collection.
I will definitely stop by again the next time I’m in town.

Best selection of punk and metal in Portland, and this being a punk and metal town, that’s saying a lot. I have picked up tons of new, hard-​to-​find records, and scored used out-​of-​print rarities for cheap here. You can also find old back issues of my comic, Feedback #11 & 12 here too!

Great place to get some records. Had a wide selection and well organized. Found some great pearl jam and alice in chains vinyls I’ve been looking for and at a decent price for records. I only wish they had more people at the front to help with questions and checking out.

Best record store I’ve ever been to. Great service. Great vinyl selection.
If you’re looking for anything punk/​thrash/​metal/​hardcore check this place out.
Looks a bit cluttered, but if you ask for help the crew knows exactly where everything is.
Five stars brah.

A little too much of a «metal vibe» here (metal sucks IMO, by and large).
Messy and cluttered — crappy T-​shirts (the ol’ Hanes type — not the new American Apparel GOOD type) hanging from the ceiling — but with a good selection of old and new vinyl.
They rate their used LPs by the Goldmine ratings and from what I’ve seen are accurate.
You get a feeling while rummaging around the bins that you can find (and I have) a real gem or two here.

This place is the place to go if you love music, especially if you’re into vinyl records. This place has an eclectic selection, but definitely mostly cater to those who are into metal, hardcore, punk, and indie rock. The first time I came into this place, I was overwhelmed with so many different emotions. I was happy. I was amazed. I might have cried? I fell in love. This place has it all. I limit how often I come into this place, because I spend A LOT of money whenever I come. It’s been a few months, so I’m probably going to stop for a visit soon.
Also, as a guy who listens to mainly metal/​hardcore, but doesn’t look the part, I do kind of agree with what the guy Michael below me said. There have been times where I felt judged by customers or the employees, because I look very normal and not punk, but it doesn’t phase me. The employees usually are nice and make conversation.
Nevertheless, check this place out and support local record stores!

Meh is right…
I’ve been coming here for about 20 years and have dropped good money on music and memorabilia as I am a collector. Just went into the store and had a less than stellar customer service experience. Just because I don’t have tattoos and dress like I am into metal equaled me being ignored, glared at, and made to feel out of place. LAME. Sorry I dropped my goth industrial attire years ago and still like the music yet am not cool in your eyes. Jerks. I’ll stick to other stores and ebay where there is the same product selection. The only person working here who is rad is the lady that has been here for a long time. She’s nice and friendly. So dudes at 2^nd Ave, wake up and smell the customer service coffee, its part of what makes a customer return.

The only thing that would have made this place any better would’ve been me finding a Donny Hathaway album in here. Otherwise, it was a frigging treasure chest. Employees were straight out of record store in a movie. Loved it. Super nice, super helpful, great prices and finds!
We come back to Portland, we will definitely be back!

To be honest I didn’t think that this store had much to offer, however, was able to find a Diamond in the rough or rather a cool Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) record I had never seen before for $ 13 (actually my best friend bought but we semi share records). The place is large, organized and it will take you some time to shift through everything. Customer service was friendly. Prices are all over the map for better or worse.

Hands down my favorite record shop in Portland. Most shops seem to focus on a particular genre. Green Noise Records is punk/​garage, 360 Vinyl is hip hop and electronic and 2^nd Avenue is Indie rock, punk and metal BUT have great rap, jazz and reggae sections too. I never leave without finding a highly sought after item and to date it’s been the only place I’ve ever seen Watain vinyl in a shop.
It took me a while to warm up to the place because it doesn’t have a parking lot apart from street parking and during the day that can be hard to find. But it is close to a max stop if so that can be an option for those wanting to check this place out. It’s probably best that parking isn’t more convenient otherwise I’d be here way more often than I already am. The prices are the best in town. I found «Adore» by Smashing Pumpkins brand new original press for only 15 $ on my first visit.
The staff is friendly and will help you out if you ask questions but will usually leave you alone to dig to your hearts content. They do carry a small selection of CD’s but they are behind the counter under glass.
It’s «Hoarder-​esque» interior can be a bit intimidating at first (even the ceiling space is utilized to display a rather extensive collection of punk & metal shirts), and certainly don’t expect to see everything on your first visit. There is music crammed into every nook and cranny of this place. If you love music and vinyl, then you owe it to yourself to shop here.