The holiday season is nearly here, and to jump-start your holiday shopping for the music lover in your life, Philadelphia has you covered. In addition to our extensive selection of independent record stores, there will be multiple record exchange events in the city throughout the holiday season. Here's a handy guide on where to find gifts for the music lover in your life.
Events
Philly Record Freak-Out at PhilaMOCA
December 6, 2025
With over 25,000 records for sale, the next edition of the popular Philly Record Freak-Out will be held on the first Saturday in December at PhilaMOCA. The sale runs from 11 am to 4 pm, and admission costs $5. For first dibs, early admission is available for $10, giving you an extra hour of shopping beginning at 10 am. There are no advanced ticket sales, so you may want to show up early if you're looking for something specific.
Philly Record Freak-Out @ PhilaMOCA
531 N. 12th St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
Pop-Up Vinyl Market at 48 Record Bar
December 6, 13, & 20, 2025
Old City's 48 Record Bar will be hosting three separate pop-up record markets throughout the month of December. The 48 Record Bar Pop-Up Vinyl Market will take place on the first three Saturdays in December from 12 pm-4:30 pm. Featuring "hundreds of fresh vinyl records" with new music, classics, and international releases, the bar will be open for service for the entire afternoon. You can sip a cocktail while you thumb through bins of records! No admission fee
48 Record Bar Pop-Up Vinyl Market @ 48 Record Bar
48 S. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19106
Record Stores
This holiday season, be sure to support your local record shops! These stores are incredibly important to the music community here in Philly, and many of them offer online ordering and shipping. So if you're traveling for the holidays, skip Amazon and support our local businesses! Here are a selection of Music Jawn's favorites:
Creep Records
Creep Records is my neighborhood record store. In addition to their brick-and-mortar location in Northern Liberties, Creep also has a shop in downtown West Chester, PA. They have a lot of gems for punk, metal, and hardcore fans, as well as new releases and a huge selection of used classics. They also offer a variety of independent artist releases through their own small label, as well as a selection of used cassette tapes and CDs.
Creep Records is located at 606-608 N. 2nd St., Phila, PA 19123 and 133 W. Gay St., West Chester, PA 19380.
Repo Records
REPO RECORDS
Repo Records has been a South Street staple since 1986 (Happy Early 40th, Repo). They carry new and used records, cassettes, CDs, DVDs, band t-shirts, posters–you name it, Repo probably has it! The shop will pre-order upcoming releases for you, and they also hold a number of in-store events throughout the year.
Repo Records is located at 506 South St., Phila, PA 19147
Latchkey Records
Just a stone's throw from Repo is Latchkey Records, which was opened in 2022 by former DJ Marc Faletti. Their entire inventory is available in-store and online, and Latchkey offers shipping all across the United States. A treasure trove for millennials, Latchkey has a lot of releases from the 90s and 00s for anyone looking to take a trip down memory lane. They also hosts a variety of events, from in-store listening parties to Quizzo (across the street at Pub on Passyunk East) to dance parties at The Trestle Inn (DJ'd by Faletti himself). Their website also includes a helpful blog, staff-curated record collections, and you can browse releases by decade!
Latchkey Records is located at 1502 E. Passyunk Ave., Phila, PA 19147.
Philadelphia Record Exchange
Philadelphia Record Exchange is one of the few remaining original structures left on Frankford Ave. The Fishtown shop has been open since 1985, and their collection of used records is so vast, you'll need a couple of hours set aside to look through everything. They're constantly updating their inventory, so no two visits are alike. PRecX does not have a website, but you can follow them on Instagram here.
Philadelphia Record Exchange is located at 1524 Frankford Ave., Phila, PA 19125
Milkcrate Cafe
About
If all of this shopping has made you hungry, head on over to Milkcrate Cafe where you can grab a "Rock 'N Pork Roll" and sip a latte while you browse their collection of vinyl records for sale. Milkcrate offers "thousands of hand-picked new and rare vintage rock, soul, and jazz" records, and its also a great place to spend an afternoon if you work remotely. If you don't have time to stop in either of their two locations (a second Milkcrate opened last year in West Philly), you can purchase records online via their Discogs profile.
Milkcrate Cafe is located at 400 E. Girard Ave., Phila, PA 19125 and 4435 Baltimore Ave., Phila, PA 19104
Main Street Music
Manayunk's Main Street Music is another legendary record shop–they've been around since 1991. Another independent record store with an extensive online shop, they boast an impressive collection of vinyl, CDs, cassettes, VHS tapes and DVDs from their centrally-located storefront on Main Street. Main Street Music also sponsors events–in fact, I had the opportunity to attend an intimate Kopecky show on the second floor of a bar back in 2015 that was sponsored by the shop!
Main Street Music is located at 4444 Main St., Phila, PA 19127
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