Waiting Room Records

Too many records, so little time.
Love the dudes that work here, but the best worker is Truck hands down.
There are quite a few stops to go to when it comes to buying records in BloNo. Waiting Room is by far the best one to go to. North Street is good if you like overpriced classic rock and Reverberation’s layout is awful, the organization is awful and the selection is moderate at best.
Waiting Room is organized, easy to navigate, and has a wonderful selection.
Jared is one of the nicest dudes.
Everyone there is a nice dude.
Sells local music along with obscure bands that my boyfriend likes (of whom they make a lot of money off of because the boy buys records all the time)
Cute story:
I was having trouble between buying records because I only had enough money for one. I went up to the desk and said I can’t choose. So he just made me flip a coin! Very obvious solution but it was nice that he wasn’t going on about which band he felt was better.
Cool dude.
Lots of cool dudes.

What’s not to like? Good selection of music and your one stop shop for buying music from local artists and tickets to local music events.

I am a CD collector so the selection of used and new CDs was good. Picked up a decent amount of music. Nothing rare but stuff I needed. I would go back if I am ever in the area again.

Great independent record shop. Staff is more than helpful. If not in stock they are always willing to order. Great used music selection. Have been shopping here for ten years and will continue to do so!

Simply the best.
Better than all the rest.

Waiting Room is great. The owner is a good guy, very personable. The selection is good. I’m a vinyl guy and I always manage to walk out with some treasure. B/​N is lucky to have the music shops we do and Waiting Room is right up there at the top. Great location and selection. Stop in when you are in town I’m sure you’ll find something to suit your fancy.

Always happy to order a disk for you and have a quick turnaround time getting t to you

Having shopped here for the first time via a Cash Mob, I have to say I wish I had ventured into this store before!
I’ve been a DJ in a previous life and I’m picky about my records — Waiting Room has a nice selection, well categorized, nicely laid out, and easy to shop.
Truck, the store cat, is amazingly cool, as are the vintage clothes and the t-​shirt selection!
Prices are very reasonable, and Jared (the owner) is a great resource. I hear great things about custom orders, will have to try that one day soon!
Huge selection, every genre imaginable, and great scope of products.
Will be back!

Sometimes it feels like you can count the amount of still standing quality indie records stores on one hand. Check your list of major cities — and you start to see that not even all your metropolises have them, Miami, I’m looking at you.
Which is why it’s kind of amazing to note that Normal Il. has three or so of these little spots going.
Of these Waiting Room might be the best, just pull anything out of a bin and notice how much must go into promoting these little tomes of audio. Full band write ups, clip and paste reviews and album pictures on bin cards, and a dazzling mix of lesser known bands and icons floating side by side.
Given the shop is small and they won’t have everything all at once. But since when is the intention of shopping in a record store to buy the full catalog of more than maybe one band? Even that’s rare.
Instead let yourself be taken in by the magic of the stacks, select out some of the two dollar promos — they’ve got gems there too. You’ll be glad you did.

The other reviewers here have this place pegged, I just wanted to comment on their customer service. I called ahead to ask them if they had any copies of CDs from a handful of local (and otherwise obscure) bands. The guy then looked around the store, rounded up what he had. He set aside the CDs for me for a pick up later that day, which went off without a hitch.
I realize that this is not an exciting story, and it probably does not strike you as customer service above and beyond the call of duty, but try to think of another store that sells music (Wal-​Mart, Target, Best Buy, even Borders) where you could expect and receive such service. The staff is not only knowledgeable, but they are helpful and friendly, and not at all the elitist pricks that work in other record stores I have visited elsewhere.
Plus they stay open to 7pm.

Excellent store (and 5 stars, considering it’s in Bloomington-​Normal). Guy who owned the store was friendly as heck, and I almost always hit up this store at least once a week when I was going to Illinois State. Adam is about right about their prices, but I didn’t mind that, especially since the owner has a cat that lives in this store! (a la Permanent Records in Chicago)
I thought for sure, I’d never again remember the name of this store. Thankfully, when I did a search of Normal, IL businesses, the name suddenly came back to me, so I am able to give the rightful praise that this store should get for existing in this area. And of course, when the only other options you have locally for music/​CDs/​etc. is going to one of the big-​box stores on the east side of town.

MONDAY-​SATURDAY 10am-​7pm, SUNDAY 12pm-​5pm
Very friendly service: you can walk in looking for your favorite Mandy Moore album and they’ll help you out and not make you feel dumb. You can also come in looking for a City of Caterpillar cd and maybe make a friend.
They have lots in stock, if it’s not in stock, they’ll order it for you free of charge. They also offer a weekly new cd guide personally written via email. Knowledgeable and independent. Jared’s been good to the store and the music coming outta central IL. Prices are a little more than Best Buy or buying through the internet, but at least here, you can listen to it before you buy and sound off on bands with the staff and that’s really what you pay for.
In some cases, there will be midnight release openings/​listenings for highly touted releases.