Record stores in Hope

The map for Hope, BC's record stores is still blank. Our search covered roughly 40 km around Hope, looking through OpenStreetMap for record stores, and turned up nothing mapped so far. Blank maps are usually a mapping gap rather than a real gap. This page refreshes daily from the latest map data, so a blank today can be a full guide tomorrow.

Digging around Hope anyway

No mapped record shops doesn't mean no vinyl. The usual stand-ins: charity-shop record sections (priced to move, restocked by donations), estate sales, flea markets, and the nearest city's record shops — worth a day trip with a want-list and a full tank.

Hope sits about 49° north of the equator, so it gets proper seasons. Winter is peak digging season: dark evenings, the new-arrivals bin fresh from the autumn collection sell-offs, and nowhere better to spend a Saturday.

And ask at the library: some lend vinyl now, and librarians always know where the local collectors trade.

Digging smarts for Hope

No mapped record shops yet, but the digging skills work anywhere. Four worth knowing:

• Inspect the seams. Split seams and ring wear tell you how a record lived. Light wear is fine; trashed sleeves drag the value.
• Don't overlook cassettes and CDs. The tape and CD sections are chronically underpriced. The format revival hasn't hit them the same way.
• Check the vinyl, not just the sleeve. Slide it out (carefully, by the edges) and look at it in good light. Sleeves lie; vinyl doesn't.
• Buy the weird stuff. Private pressings, local bands, oddball compilations — the strange records are the ones that appreciate.

What we're watching for in Hope

A real record shop: new vinyl, used vinyl, or both, with bins to dig. Independents and specialists all count. The vinyl wall at the lifestyle chain doesn't.

When a qualifying record store gets mapped in Hope, this page updates on the next refresh with its name, address where available, and whatever hours, phone or website the mappers recorded. Nothing here is paid placement and nothing is sponsored — if it's on the map, it's on the page.

This page refreshes daily from the latest map data, so the moment a qualifying record store appears in Hope's OpenStreetMap data, it shows up here — usually within a day of being mapped.

Put Hope on the map

Know a record store here that isn't listed? The fastest route onto this page runs through OpenStreetMap: add it as shop=music with its name and address, and it'll appear here after our next daily refresh. Local knowledge beats every dataset. The most useful details are the record store's name, its street address, and its opening hours — even a name and a pin on the map is enough to get started.