Kops Records

Absolutely, positively, totally, adore Kops records.
Amazing selection.
Great prices.
Friendly staff.
Good location.
Kops is a Toronto classic. It’s been around for a minute and if you know vinyl in the area, you’ll know Kops.
They really do everything here. Alt, hip-​hop, rock, folk, world, classical, electronica and more. If there is a genre you’re interested in, Kops will at least have a small section for it.
This place also offers both new and used. Both are great. A lot of places have a «stronger» used or new selection but I thought both were equally good.
Although some may think otherwise, prices here good. If you come at the right time and are wise about your selections, you can walk out with some very good deals.
Certainly all those things make Kops an excellent store, but what truly makes the place stand out is their 45 selection; it is insane. If 45s are your thing this place is a MUST GO. the second floor is where they are located. Make sure to check it out.
The service is great. Friendly and helpful. Can’t complain.
Stop by Kops. You won’t be mad.

Kops has easily the best and most friendly service of any record store I’ve been, too. The people behind the counter are always willing to help you dig for that record you just have to have or just chat about whatever you’re buying or music in general. I always have a pleasant experience at Kops and make a point to browse whenever possible.
The only downside to Kops are the prices and selection tend to be pretty mediocre. I find that what I am looking for is rarely in stock, and if it is, it’s about three or four dollars more than another store down the street. As a result, I give them my business less than I would like.
The shop is also incredibly, incredibly small with really crammed walkways, so it’s not exactly wheelchair friendly and browsing can be a pain when you’re shoving yourself up against the records so another person can get behind you.
If they only had a larger selection, I would definitely buy more. Alas.

A great selection of new and used records, decent prices although not on the cheap side for used stuff, they’re pretty in the average. But what really stands out for me is their HUGE selection of 45s! Super well organized too! Highly recommend for those looking for the deeper rare stuff.

They always have a decent and fairly priced metal section which is great, never too crowded whenever I go which I like since the store is pretty small. I’ve been to quite a few record stores in the area and I like this one the most. You can also find a lot of great stuff in their bargain bins for very cheap!

Now that I finally have a record player (guh!) I have a reason to drop by Kops. I love the no-​frills layout of this place. Someone had parked their baby in a stroller under the soul sign. I giggled. Surveyed the hip-​hop and jazz sections. Didn’t find anything that I had to have immediately, but I enjoyed taking a look. Didn’t find the prices outrageous, but they weren’t giving shit away either. Bottom line, the selection was okay and the prices were understandable. I may have to go back soon and take a second look.

I have absolutely no idea why this place is rated with a «$$$$» price tag. It’s really not that pricey. I bought a 180 gram copy of «Overgrown» by James Blake for like 18 bucks, if that means anything. I would rate it closer to a «$$» rating.
Kops has a great selection of vinyls, and I was specifically impressed at their funk/​soul sections. I’m rather new to the whole vinyl record scene, and I didn’t feel an ounce of condescension from the staff when I asked what some would consider to be «stupid» questions. They were very helpful!
¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend

I was recently fortunate enough to come across a bag of free records curbside, which included some great music such as jimi hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, led zeppelin, b. b king, etc. I no longer have a record player, and I’m not a collector myself so I decided I wanted to sell them, but with no background knowledge for vinyls I was left clueless with what to price them at. I am new to Toronto, and turned to Google for record appraisals in the area– Kops records was the first to pop up in the search. I checked Unilocal for other reviews and liked what I had to read, so I called and reached out to them for assistance. The friendly staff member I spoke to on the phone put me in contact with his colleague, Nick, who has an expertise in this sort of thing.
Nick was kind and professional, and offered to have a look at the records at no cost. I dropped them off at the shop on a Monday and told him no rush, as there were about 35 records in the bunch and I did not want to take away from his time for business, but by Wednesday I had already heard back from him with his thoughts on their value. He offered to have me come back by the shop so that he could go over it with me in person, and was more than patient when I was swarmed with work and it, shamefully, took me two weeks to come back in.
Nick was obviously very thorough, taking the time to examine each record and price it at what he thought was fair. I was pleasantly surprised and so appreciative of this and that he also took the time to clearly explain things to me, someone who is completely new to the subject.
While he did express interest in a few of them, he stressed that I was in no way obligated to sell any to him, that I was free to take them and do as I wished. It is so rare to find good people like this in the world who will lend a helping hand without asking anything in return.
I am truly blown away by the customer experience here at Kops Records, and I may not be a record enthusiast, but I would certainly reccomend them to anyone who is. Wonderful people! For all the time it took Nick to do this for me, I thought I could, at the very least, take 5 minutes out of my day to express my gratitude!
My sincerest thank yous to Nick and the wonderful staff at Kops Records,
Paige

Found a lot of stuff here I haven’t been able to find anywhere else at really decent prices… this place is very dangerous for my wallet.

I made the mistake of visiting here after having attending an afternoon wine tasting and then having a bunch of beers. What happened you ask? Well, I left with a car payment worth of tasty wax is what went down. Woke up the next morning with a bit of a foggy head and went «Did I really buy all that?»
Good shop. Bought a whack load of funk and old school hip hop records. Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers. Nuff said. Oh and the second floor is 45 heaven.
Note for the less experienced diggers: The sealed copies of classic records you find here are most likely NOT original pressings. They are mostly without exception new represses but thats ok.

Family owned record shop very centrally located. I was looking for the Churches record and no one seemed to have it. They did! Not only that but I had the opportunity to talk about music with some of the very knowledgeable staff. We exchanged stories and talked about bands. Overall a great experience. Highly recommended if you are looking for a specific record you just can’t seem to find

Best 45 selection in Toronto, so easy to browse, so many hits, not super picked over.
Staff is really nice, killer mix of old and new vinyl, excellent staff picks, but you never feel judged for having terrible taste. As someone with terrible taste, this is crucial for me.

So here’s my take on Kop’s-neat store-​lot of great vinyl, but almost every single record store I go to… Ric’s collectibles on Queen east, Discoveries-​queen east, etc…
always offer up a discount if you are buying over $ 100.00 or are a regular customer-​The best record shop to me is in a town called Cobourg-​Zap records-​friendliest guy, really fair prices, and always discounts his records without ever asking-​a great experience. Kop’s employees alway say-«sorry, no can do-​the boss will fire me» I spend less there now than I used to and will probably not even make it a stop on my record buying days… parking sucks there anyways!!!

Very friendly/​knowledgeable staff, which can be hard to find at some record stores. I’ve been to plenty of record shops where the staff can make you feel a bit awkward if you aren’t looking for some silly, obscure record that only audiophiles, like them, would listen to.
The Kops staff helped me find some hip/​hop, soul rarities (House of Pain, Doris Troy) that I’d been searching for for years, all in their well-​stocked store.
Recommended for a sure stop in if you’re in the Queens Street area and have a few hours to kill :)

So… my first foray into Canada country, and what do I do? Buy records, of course!
To be honest, I wasn’t exactly planning on going crate diggin’ since there was a lot more sight-​seeing to be had. But I did some research before leaving the states, just in case we had time, and this store not only came highly-​recommended, it was only a block from our hotel.
So Kops definitely has that nice independently-​owned feel, with rows and rows of vinyl goodness. Since it is a small shop, it does tend to get a little crowded when you need to squeeze by someone, but I would’t have it any other way. I mean, I’ve been in «stores» where you could reach out your arms and touch both sides of the room!
Moving on, the first floor had a lot of rock, jazz, and hip-​hop, while upstairs was soundtracks and 45s. It was nice that they also had one listening station, which I used to test several potential purchases.
Pricewise, they tended to be a little higher than some of my choice spots back home, but more or less on par with record stores in the heart of DC. I’m sure, like DC, rent doesn’t come cheap in downtown Toronto, either.
In terms of service, the two female record clerks on the first floor were very nice and reminded me of those cool record store chicks that I would see during my college daze. The older gentleman upstairs was also friendly and asked me if I needed help finding anything. I was like «I just need all the time in the world to go through all this awesomeness — that’s it.» But, unfortunately I had to leave to continue with our tour itinerary and did not have a chance to return.
In the end, however, I was able to leave happy with a couple jazz records and an old REM record I had been looking for. I would be remiss not to mention that I had a slight issue with a manufacturing defect on one of the records. But the owner was very responsive and went above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction. So kudos to Kops for that. You get my alliteration of approval.
All in all, this positive experience contributed to making a very productive first trip to Toronto, and Canada, for that matter. Definitely looking forward to coming back next time.

I used to come to this place exclusively back in the day… It used to be the best shop in the city and was always packed when I would show up. Then they renovated into a smaller store, but it looked great and was still a favourite to hit up for hip-​hop and funk vinyl. Then something happened and it became half a clothing store? They still have a really impressive 45 collection (if not one of the best) but with stores like Slinky Music opening up it seems less necessary to check out this store. The location might have something to do with it (that Queen-​West-​MuchMusic-​bad-​clothing-​store area) but if you’re in the area you might as well pop in and take a browse.
It’s cramped though… There’s been times where I have to dip and duck around people and sometimes you have to wait for one of their listening stations. I believe they only have three? One is usually always broken for some reason. Good spot for used hip-​hop though! I used to always like flipping through their new arrivals.

It’s not my favourite record store in the city, but it ain’t terrible either.
I always got the hip hop feel, even though inside it’s just your run of the ill collectable store.
Moog Audio used to be in the front, and it made it feel more like a hub, but now it’s a record store like any other.
Play De record is the biggest, Rotate This is the poppy one, Soundscapes is the hippy one, and the Kops is the urban one for sure.
It’s worth looking into if you’re looking for something rare.
They also sell shirts, but I never saw one that I’d wear.