Record stores in Milwaukee

Record shops reward the patient digger. Milwaukee, WI has 9 mapped right now. That's 9 record shops mapped around Milwaukee. Every shop grades and prices differently, so the same record can be a bargain in one and a splurge in another — dig everywhere. Check the grading before you pay — a visual grade and a play grade are two different things.

This guide covers every record store we could verify in and around Milwaukee (within about 40 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Musical Memories and Bull's Eye Records, plus Longshot Vinyl. If a record shop's missing from Milwaukee's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet.

The Milwaukee record lineup

9 mapped within about 40 km:

What the map tells us about record stores in Milwaukee

6 of the 9 list their opening hours on the map, which is genuinely useful — record shops keep shop hours, so the listed times are usually reliable.

4 have websites listed. Worth a look for new-arrival posts and want-list services.

Most of the record stores in Milwaukee list a phone number. Useful for asking what's just come into the used bins.

2 of the shops are tagged as selling used vinyl — the dollar bins and used wall are where the real digging happens.

The Milwaukee record crawl

Making a day of it in Milwaukee? Work this order: Musical Memories on 833 East Kilbourn Avenue, Bull's Eye Records on 1627 East Irving Place, Longshot Vinyl on 316 6th Street, Rushmor Records on 2635 South Kinnickinnic Avenue, Record Head on 7045 West Greenfield Avenue, Starship Records on 260 West Broadway, The Exclusive Company on 1669 North Farwell Avenue, and Cosmic Corner on 1200 North Main Street. That's the record crawl in one sensible loop, no backtracking. 1 more are listed below.

Record digging tips for Milwaukee

How the regulars work Milwaukee's bins:

• Bring a want-list at Musical Memories. Write down what you're hunting. Digging is fun, but a list turns luck into strategy.
• Bring cash for the small shops at Bull's Eye Records. Some independents prefer it, and a cash offer on a stack can occasionally move the price.
• Learn to spot reissues. Reissues are cheaper and often sound great. Originals cost more for the history. Know which you're paying for.
• Don't skip the 45s. The singles boxes get less traffic and hide great finds. B-sides are the deep cuts of record shopping.

Good to know

We searched about 40 km around Milwaukee — that covers the town itself plus the surrounding communities you'd reasonably drive to. Listings come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by local volunteers, so a brand-new record store in Milwaukee can take a while to appear. If you spot one of the 9 that's closed, or a great record store we missed, the fix is to update the map itself — that's where this guide reads from.

We don't list prices or stock — both change by the day. What we list is the where: real shops, verified by real mappers.

If you run one of the 9 listed here and something's wrong — a closure, a move, new hours — the fix is the same: update the shop on OpenStreetMap and the correction flows through to this page on the next daily refresh.