@Casual - Sorry, I meant 3x pints
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Donāt waste your time, itās about 2 racks of records in the basement of a clothes shop. Probably ok if you want the smiths or Taylor swift
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Itās out of date. No mention of Elizabeth Line, straight to TCR. Heathrow Express to Paddington?? No way.
Have to say though @Casual donāt expect much. The global nature of distribution and online chat means youāll probably already know about most of the records in Phonica. This forum is too goodā¦ā¦
I always ask for local white label / oddities when I go to a foreign shop. With different outcomes. Got a fucking banger of a 12ā in Rush Hour Amsterdam that was a proper local vibe. Not sure Phonica will produce the same.
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I mean I might know the records but I wonāt have the records. I will have a list, I am sure.
Remember record stores in the US are not generally very TP friendly so the majority of what I buy comes from the UK and Europe at cost. Although Justin Miller just opened a store about 2.5 miles north of me and he has some records that I am going to take off his hands if I get up there. Itās pretty dire over here.
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Ive developed a seething loathing of Phonica after last time I picked up 3x ordered I had to wait ages ( shop wasnt busy) / took 15min to find my copy of something they had in rack & then didnt even say thankyou
Just handed me bag & walked off
I know everyone (espec in REtail) has bad days but they seem to project that moody record shop vibe on purpose
Im not a regular but its not the there is a crowd of people all asking for Numero Uno when you have 2 white labels
They are nice in SOTU
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That sucks. I know all of us grew up with the moody record store/rite of passage thing but I was hoping that would be a thing of the past. So if the consensus is that theyāre dicks Iād rather head to love vinyl and clear them out.
Always had great friendly service in Phonica, guess itās the luck of the draw like any shopping experience. 
Iāve always found Phonica to be super helpful and a good experience.
Thumbs up from me for the Phonica staff too
Iāll go back !
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Ive had mostly fine service in Phonica over the years, but in the earlier days of the shop I had some terrible service, that member of staff left many years ago.
I have always found the staff in phonica to be really sound. If you manage to be in there when itās not busy they are usually really helpful.
I find the Phonica staff usually super friendly and helpful but have also experienced the pre-order nonsense that @grantham_disco had. Couldnāt find my order but thankfully there were copies still on the shelf. I no longer pre-order from them lol
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I hope your employer is making sure that youāre turning left when you board (or at the very least can spring for bulkhead/exit row seats!)
One purely logistical note: there was a very useful Priority Pass arrival lounge thatās just as you come out of T2 arrivals (I used to have a work card that got me in there) but Iām pretty certain that it closed during Covid. It was bloody great for a shower once youād landed, and really made all the difference for me coming off a red-eye. Depending on who/how youāre flying, there may be other arrival lounges available to you, but thought Iād best mention this just in case you were relying on the T2 PP option.
Good luck!
So I did the thing. Bought my kid his west ham kit, went to Phonica, SoTU and Reckless and was tempted to head over to Love Vinyl but ran out of time.
Things I noticed. 1. You guys are spoiled, so many records such little time. 2. The attitude in the stores seems to have lifted and I found everyone I met rather pleasant. 3. I gave up on digging and just asked for recommendations which was pretty great. Got a lot of things Iād never have thought to check out. 4. I wasnāt the only tourist digger by some way but that might just have been Soho, 5. Shops were rammed and it was quite fun watching people come in and pick up their online orders and just leave. I donāt think Iād be capable of that. 6. I spent way too much money.
Didnāt get to eat anything. A day is clearly not enough.
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