Dixons

A huge selection of secondhand records from Sherbert right down to weird obscure basement bands, Dixon’s is a little frightening when going through the doors for the first time. While there are genre sections, it seems to be pretty disorganised, with some sections being placed on crates under the main displays which are easy to miss and annoying to dig through. If you are looking for an older album or a random bargain, it is definitely worth a look though.

Don’t get me wrong this is one of the coolest stores in Brunswick with a quality and huge selection of vinyl, CDs, DVD & videos but the customer service is the absolute worst. You get people serving you like they have better things to do.

Found some awesome tunes here… from CD singles, rare disco comps, and original 7″ vinyl in great condition. Staff was super knowledgeable and friendly, and you can listen to almost everything.

Wheeling and dealing is not my thing. When I go to developing countries, I hate to barter — hate it. So it goes that I never take my excess CDs to Dixons for trading… I gotta get over that.
Dixons are a massive store on Brunswick Street and, they have thus far managed to fend off the invading middle-​class of the strip. It’s fair to say that a large part of their success lies in the fact that there are a few of them, but Fitzroy’s Dixons remains a pretty solid spot for second hand vinyl and, unlike many of the others around town, you can still find some bargains.
Case and point: I popped in to Dixons a little while back and found a copy of The Cramps’ ‘Off The Bone’. Granted, the cover was a little damaged and the 3D glasses (!) were missing, but the sticker price was only $ 5 so I took it to the counter. The guy actually took the record out of the sleeve and noticed a long scratch angling across the playing surface. He then told me it’s so cheap, probably because it won’t play too well. I told him I wanted it for the artwork anyway (a point this bloke appreciated) and he knocked a further $ 2 off the price. The upshot was, I got it home and it plays fine. ‘Off The Bone’ for $ 3 = super bargain. Beat that!

I’ve always held a bit of a grudge against Dixons, since I tried to sell them about 20 CD’s when I was 18 and not only would the lone-​dangley-​earringed pirate at the counter not buy even one of them, he could barely hide his disgust at the music that I was attempting to bring into his store. Granted, I was trying to weed out the crap from my collection to make it more respectable, and also granted that I was trying to sell them Alanis Morrisett’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’, but even so, no one deserves that kind of humiliation (there was a queue of people behind me)!
However, when I scanned through the racks of old records and second hand CD’s and DVD’s at Dixons, all these years later, it occurred to me that the best thing about the place is their policy of quality control that prevented me from selling them all of my lame cast-​offs. The music selection there is actually really good.
You have to wonder how long a place like this can survive though, selling second hand CD’s when new ones have become so cheap. Particularly now that everyone seems to be solely downloading digital music, except for the hardcore aficionados, who are sticking with vinyl. In any case, if you still buy music the old-​school way, Dixons is definitely worth checking out.

Having found that there’s a Dixons near me rather recently has been like a breath of fresh air for me and my CD collection. Knowing the ins dn outs of the one found in Blackburn, I was surprised to find something working as well as it does closer to the city. Here you can buy and sell second hand wares in the form of CDs, Vinyl, and DVDs.
What’s even better here is the selection of DVDs also found amongst the music madness. I didn’t make the most of this during my childhood so am lapping them up at a rate of knots. And just like Empire Records, there seems to be real characters here, both shopping and found behind the counter.
Those who work here are passionate about music like you wouldn’t believe, on the odd chance they are actually part of the Melbourne music scene, playing shows further down Brunswick street. Some of them work in Blackburn store as well, and will have a mental blank about stock as their mind is in the wrong store.
Where is my mind, indeed.

I remember travelling to the city in high school and coming up to Brunswick St to check out the collection at Dixons. It feels like this second hand record store has been on Brunswick St forever. The concept is pretty simple. If you have an old CD/​record or DVD you can take it down to Dixons and sell it. Or, if you have a few bucks in your pocket and want to try and find some lost treasure or something completely new to you, then you can pick up a bargain.
There is a huge music and film range at Dixons crossing most genres. In the era of Internet downloads and mp3s this independent record store is one of the last bastions of the industry. The staff must all be in bands by the look of them and seem passionate about music and there is always something cool coming through the speakers. A little like High Fidelity of Empire Records, this place is one of the last remnants of true cool on the changing Brunswick St.