Logan Hardware

a great used record store with a free arcade in back (if you make a purchase)

I love record stores, especially here in Chicago. I do not like this place though. The selection is picked probably before it even gets to the sales floor. I can find tons of things I like even if I can’t buy them all anywhere else in town but in the whole store I could only find five things that were way over priced. There were probably five guys behind the counter and they all conspicuously avoided eye contact and didn’t say a word to me even though there were only two other customers there the whole time. The records they did have were all crappy. Glad this place was last to check out on my Chicago vinyl shop trek because I had so many other good ones to compare this place to. Go to Pinwheel in Pilsen or Kstark on Western or that one store in Bridgeville or Reckless or anywhere else but this place. Wouldn’t (try) and shop here again, it was just awful

Whether your format is CD or Vinyl (be it 33, 78, or 45), Logan’s Hardware has it. Even if your prefer new pressings, or classical vintage pressings, you can find it here.
Logan’s Hardware implements the joy of bin-​searching by having their vinyl in genre sections (a nice touch, as you can browse through many decades of the same style-​music) and by major artists.
The ambience is nice, as you get to hear the shop-​keeps spin of choice as you walk down the warm wooden floors. The store is deceiving, as the size is much larger than the exterior poses. Worth the stop if you’re ever in town!

Logan Hardware was the one record store we decided to stop at and check out on our trip to Chicago. I’m glad it was the one we picked out. It’s a pretty awesome record store located around the Logan Square neighborhood.
When we walked in we were happily greeted by a man, which I’m guessing to be the owner. He was super nice, welcoming, and seemed generally excited for us to be there.
The first thing that my eyes went to when walking in was a stack of show prints to flip through sitting on the floor. I flipped through the whole selection/​stack. While I didn’t find anything for myself, they had a lot of unique Chicago show prints. I enjoyed looking at all of them.
Then I moved up the steps and straight to all the 45’s and 7″. They had a lot, and I was overwhelmed. I don’t think I’ve ever come upon such a large collection of them at a record store. Between the front of the store where all the 45’s are and the back where most of all the LP’s are. There are cassettes, CDS, stereo gear, and lots of other things to look at and buy.
I will say that this is the best record store I’ve been to for used records. They have a great amazing selection. It’s records you actually want. I was really impressed by their punk selection. I’m sure in general you could spend a few hours in here looking through everything and find yourself a handful of awesome finds in the records. However, we did not have the time to do so.
I did leave with a Gossip/​Le Tigre remix 12″ and a original «Where The Wild Things» are soundtrack from 1977. Both for a total of $ 12. Great finds.
Now the best part of this place, when we were checking out we were informed there was a Arcade Museum in the back of it which buying something got you access too for free play. How awesome is that?
A record store with an Arcade Museum in the back of it. That’s all you need to know, really.

Logan Hardware is a wonderful record store.
It’s well-​organized, the staff is friendly, the selection is extensive and top-​notch, the prices are good and parking isn’t too bad.
What more could you ask for in a record store?
Just a few specific notes:
–LH has an excellent selection of punk. I haven’t spotted a better array of the stuff in the Chicagoland area since… 2003? REMEMBER THE FIRESIDE BOWL EVERYBODY?!
–the selection of newer vinyl is limited. Sure, there is some stuff scattered throughout the store but if you’re looking for an extensive selection of new vinyl, go somewhere else.
–not sure what happened to all the retro arcade machines…
–there’s also CD’s and cassettes and VHS; they’ve got all their bases covered.
–goodies! Lots of fun trinkets as well. Old trading cards. Great stocking stuffers.
–make sure to check out the stacks by the weird machines by the door; there’s some pretty choice Non-​music albums that are worth a peek… I’ve already said too much.
Make a visit to Logan Hardware… You won’t regret it!

I’ve updated my review because I have been here half a dozen times in the past year and it has honestly seen some improvements. Always a great selection of music — in any format — and dvd’s. The staff is always nice and the game selection is looking great in the back — they’ve added a few small display shelves where they have curated a collection of vintage handhelds that are pretty fun to take a look at. It can still get a bit warm back there, but all the games have been in very playable shape the last few times I stopped in. Thank you for being here.
Oh, and Donald Hayes’s maxed out score is still on the cabaret.
If you like arcading on a budget and supporting local business — this is for you!

Super cool record store in Logan Square. Not only do they have a huge selection of vinyls, but also cassette tapes, VHS videos, CDs, DVDs and other collector items. I didn’t realize there was a market for all of this stuff! Staff was friendly, and with your purchase you get to head back to the arcade in the back room for free play!

Great selection of records across all genres, and the prices range from low to fair. I picked up Alan Parsons Project ‘I Robot’ and Godflesh ‘Hymns,’ and almost added Killer Mike ‘Monster’ to my purchase. Also, how are you going to pass up a record store with a free arcade in the back?

I haven’t had a turntable in over a decade, yet I’ve been paying to store about 400 record albums. A friend tipped me to Logan Hardware, so I dropped off 4 boxes of records for them to peruse. What they offered was more than fair. He also could have mentioned the same price for everything, but his offer was for about ¾ of what I dropped off, and what he left still has some value in it. A good, honest deal. Back in my vinyl days, I would have spent weeks at a time leafing through record stores like this one. Sadly, I’m out of the record scene. But this looks like the place to go for music you can listen to without an internet connection… :)

Good times, great store, fun games, nice people — I wish every town had a Logan Hardware.

Arcade is cool but the records are over-​priced and the selection is… interesting. The person behind the counter was awesome. On the other hand, there are some cool throw backs like Terminator 2 Judgment Day collector cards and I found a record I have been looking for for a while. I would return to peruse the selection again and play some games.

They have knowledgable friendly staff who are all friendly and personable. While parking can be difficult it is worth it. The have a huge record selection that is reasonably priced. Two things hard to find in a post hipster record buying world. They currently have a huge amount of 12″ singles in and brought out an old record table to create a second listening station. That type of thinking and customer service will make me a regular customer.

I’m conflicted. I love the «secret» arcade — buying a record and getting a free ticket to the back arcade is really fun and I could spend hours playing Pinbot alone. The store has a nice feel to it with nice hardwood floors, cool do-​dads everywhere and a layout that makes more sense than most record stores. The stoners behind the counter are the nicest record store clerks probably ever, if a bit slow.
But the records themselves kinda blow. The selection is perhaps the worst I’ve seen in Chicago, although they have a lot of excellent competition in their defense. There’s a lot of «Best of Bread» type records in the rock section (vinyl collectors know what I mean) and simply not much to speak of elsewhere — some decent jazz I suppose. I would definitely stop in if you’re in the neighborhood but despite all the bells and whistles, I can’t get past the fact that it just doesn’t have the best selection of records.

What a neat little place. Although if you don’t like hipsters… stay far, far, away from Logan Hardware.
You can drive past it a million times and never know it exists, but like many hipstery things, its location and popularity has spread almost entirely via word-​of-​mouth. I could see people coming here and absolutely falling in love with its collection of rare and unusual vinyl, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, and other slightly-​dated media platforms. For me though, I came here with one thing in mind – the ‘hidden’ game room in the back.
It’s actually a very cool system: in order to be admitted to their arcade, you have to buy something in the store first. I originally purchased Deep Purples’ «Live In Japan» record, but upon realizing that I didn’t own a turntable, I quickly returned it for a copy of the Killers «Greatest Hits» and a gently-​used copy of ‘MacGruber’. The keypad code is printed on the back of your receipt, ensuring that freeloaders can’t gain access to their cabinet games and pinball tables. Which brings me to my criticisms…
Having read about this pinball hideaway online, I was expecting a vast array of pins beckoning me to play them. Instead, I was greeted with a grand total of 4 tables, only 3 of which were working, and only 2 of those considered modern tables (i.e. made after 1978). Worst of all, the DMD (Dot-​Matrix Display) screen on ‘Tommy’ (The Who-​themed table) was on the fritz and was BADLY in need of repair. Gameplay was still fun, though. Almost none of the cabinet games appealed to me, and they didn’t have Galaga or a variation of it. Booooooo.
I probably looked for albums (and CDs) from 7 of my favorite bands, like Journey, AC/​DC, Rush, Boston, and Styx, and while I found a few, they were super-​obscure (read: unpopular for a reason) and I had no interest in. So basically Logan Hardware teased me with «oh sure we have your favorite rock groups, just the weird albums that didn’t chart or have any familiar songs on them.»
It was cool to check out once and I’m very glad I did, but I don’t see myself returning soon, or ever. Why? Because I steal most of my music through unethical-​but-​not-​really-​illegal torrenting, and I’m too much of a stickler when it comes to acceptable pinball to justify coming here again. Plus, Logan Barcade right down the street has a metric shit ton of pins that are in fantastic shape, so I’ve no need to come back here.

Now keep in mind, I’ve never really been that great at pinball. Except the old windows 97 pinball, that I was killer at. I mean, when you spend weeks at a time at your grandparents as a kid there aren’t a lot of technology options.
Anyway, the ambiance of this place is great. Nice people, good location and the games look and play well. I had a great time channeling my Arnold Schwarzenegger on the Last action hero pinball machine.
Great beer selection at decent prices. Much cheaper than headquarters, I didn’t have to pay $ 8 for an 8-​bit pale ale.
I also want to say that my cousin skillfully beat Mario to a amazing crowd of 5 people.
The one con is a slight lack of my arcade games. I wish there were a few more of my childhood options there but hey — it’s not just about ME. Although places should probably always cater to exactly what I want.

Yay for Logan Hardware! So close to my house, which is awesome. The staff is great and have a wide-​range of musical tastes, so you’ll be able to find someone to make recommendations or help you find that record you’re looking for. I geeked out with a girl at the register once when I was buying Justin Timberlake, The National and a Tig Notaro comedy album. And no judgement, like I would probably get at other record stores. Not to mention, super excited I was able to get all of these babies in one place. AND I got a free ticket to enter the arcade in the old location!
I also came here on Record Store Day and it was PACKED, which was great to see. The lines were long, but moved quickly and efficiently. Only complaint was that they put all the records for the day on one small end cap, and it got kinda crazy trying to look through them all with 20 people breathing on you and reaching around you to grab the same stuff you were looking for. But I guess the only other option would be holding them behind the counter, and that can create an even worse experience.
If you’re in the area, or are a fan of vinyl, stop in here and check it out. You won’t regret it!

Amazing deals! Love the secret arcade in the back, friendly staff… the atmosphere is very relaxed and hipster esque WHICH is cool for a record store… you can find many CDs for $ 1 – 3 dollars… my only critique is have more CDs and cassettes but the vinyl and retro video games makes up for it
A++

The goodness of this place is stated in nearly every review listed below. Like many, I wasn’t here to enhance my LP collection or grab a chance CD. I do on the other hand enjoy classic arcade games and to get access to a free opp to play, I made the obligatory purchase. Hell, that was easy. LH sells wax packs from the 70’s & 80’s that I collect to give to my son. Snagged several that I didn’t have and earned my right of passage. They have a good 30 video games and pinball machines to pick from. I got caught up on Tempest, Berzerk and a couple others. Easily spent an hour yelling obscenities as I tried to recapture the talent of my youth on Berzerk… that game is a video drug.
If you like video games you’ll need to swing by. Just a cool place.

I was here a couple weeks ago before they opened the bar-​cade nearby. I got a few albums and had fun reminiscing over others as I went through all the records of my ‘youth’.
After making my purchase I went into the arcade in the back room hoping to further rekindle old memories. Despite hearing great things, I was underwhelmed. Of the (IIRC) six pinball machines, only three were functioning. And of the dozen or so arcade games — five of those were were broken too.

So, this place isn’t closed; it just moved down the block.
Big store, really clean, new-​feeling.
A good selection, both old things and new stuff. Lots of genres. OK prices. Friendly staff.
If you buy something, you’ll get a code that gets you into the back room that’s full of old-​school arcade games (free play). Can’t beat that.