Time Traveler Music is one example of a great record store that is still in existence here in the Cleveland area. It requires a bit of travel, because it is located in Cuyahoga Falls (about 40 minutes away or so), but the selection and diversity remains unmatched, and it is still a great place for import and indie stuff. I started going there in the early 90's when Sarah Mclachlan was just beginning to break as an artist. Time Traveler was the only place that I could count on to have all of Sarah's Canadian stuff readily available, and the owner was a huge fan - another great record store person to have conversations with about music, and in the case of Sarah, I'd see him at shows for Sarah, and other artists that he was a big fan of. Time Traveler was also a great source to feed my laserdisc habit - they had a great selection, and lots of import music laserdiscs that you couldn't get here in the U.S. They're still going strong - grab an address here, and go visit.
I could spend a lot of time writing about the record stores that I've loved here in Cleveland. I worked at record stores throughout high school, and got both jobs because I spent so much time hanging out in the stores, that the managers said to me, "you come here so much, I'm going to give you a job." One of my best friends, is someone that I met while he was managing a CD Warehouse location. When My Generation closed, that was one of several store closings in a short period, and it was a bummer - My Generation was something to talk about.
These days, I remain on a quest to visit the next great record store. I haven't been to Amoeba Music in Los Angeles, but man, I want to. I would go to LA just to go there. I have a list of stores like that, that I would travel to the city, just to go there. That's the sickness of a music fan - we'll do stuff like that, and it's completely normal. It' s a must (or inevitable) that I will find my way into a record store at some point while I am in the city. My parents actually made sure to locate Cheapo Discs, prior to my visit a few years back to the St. Paul/Minneapolis area, and I visited that, and several other stores while I was in the area.
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