Mile Long Records

Although it would be nice to see some cheaper vinyl selection, the prices are fair for what they have and I am always happy to give them my business! Also, the owner is incredibly nice and knowledgable — ready to answer any questions you have. So grateful for another vinyl shop around the Chicagoland burbs.

Cool place. Just test drove a refurbished turntable and ended up purchasing a new audio technica TT with Denon bookshelf speakers. I wanted vintage refurbished but have no time to shop garage sales and used equipment stores. Good service and thanks for letting me test drive. I went with AT based on reviews and for the pre amp that enabled use of the reasonably priced bookshelf speakers. I can enjoy some old vinyl tonight and add components later.

Contacted owner on Facebook to see if they bought used records or CDs & got a reply yes bring them on in… I was happy to hear that since I live in Wheaton & was looking to unload so stuff I didn’t listen to anymore … Went into the store & gave my bag of stuff to the guy behind the counter must assume it was the owner he says Ill look through them so I walked around & browsed through the records expecting to hear back if he’d want any of it … Instead the owner ignored me for 25mins while he talked music shop with someone instead of helping me & I was the only customer in the store… Finally I had had enough of it I picked up my records & walked out all he said was oh I didn’t get a chance to look over them… Bologna he was to busy chatting it up … Oh well he lost a customer in me & I’ll make sure that other friends know the service level at this shop … Unsatisfactory… I never had such low level of service trade’n or selling items in other music shops as this place … Will never go here again or suggest it to people.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place! Great selections on mostly newer records but anything they don’t have they’ll gladly order it if they can.
This is a family owned business ran by the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Michael is extremely knowledgeable and helpful in all things records. He has even made a house call to help a customer setup his record player system!
I am always eager to help a local business to grow and thrive and this one is definitely worth it!

After hearing about this place from a couple friends, I was excited to finally check it out. As a long time audio/​vinyl enthusiast, I was excited to have another store nearby. Perhaps I was spoiled when I lived so close to Reckless Records in the city, but man, this was was a MASSIVE disappointment.
This place is the absolute definition of a record store created to cash in on the fact that vinyl has become a «fad» again. But if you’re seriously into high quality audio, this is not the place for you. First off, their used record selection is ridiculously overpriced. $ 21 for a used copy of the Stones ‘Black and Blue?!’ Are you insane? One quick search on
will show you that a VG+ copy goes for less than $ 5, and a Good condition can be had for $ 2. $ 11 for Wings ‘Band on the Run?’ VG copies for $ 3-​$ 4 on Discogs. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. They’re taking advantage of people who don’t know any better and price gouging like crazy.
The layout also leaves something to be desired. The main racks have 3 tiers, and the top level is tough to reach and as you flip through, you need to be 6 feet tall at minimum just to be able to see all the titles. Definitely designed to look pretty rather than be functional for flipping through all the titles as you normally would. Definitely doesn’t lend itself to your classic record store ‘crate digging’ that is so much fun.
Finally, and probably worst of all, is that they’re doing what a lot of these ‘new’ vinyl shops are doing and promoting/​selling junk equipment to ignorant newbies who don’t know what they’re buying. They’re hawking Audio Technica PL-​60 turntables along with some junky little M-​Audio bookshelf speakers as some kind of «perfect starter setup.» A cheap, plastic turntable with a garbage cartridge and NO ADJUSTABLE COUNTERWEIGHT that will absolutely eat your precious vinyl alive and destroy it over time. And using the table’s awful built in pre-​amp as your power source instead of actually having an amplifier/​receiver?! I suppose that’s fine if you’re one of these people that’s decided they want to get into vinyl so you can be «hip», but if you actually a. care about your music SOUNDING GOOD and b. want to take care of your record collection so it will last and provide you with years of enjoyment, then stay far, far away from this junk.
If you’re a newcomer who is wanting to get into vinyl… DO YOUR RESEARCH! Don’t let places like this fool you into buying inferior equipment and paying ridiculous prices for used vinyl that you can get elsewhere for (literally) a fraction of the price.
Sorry Mile Long, I’m sure you’re fooling all the wannabe vinyl hipsters, but you’re not fooling this guy. I’d much rather take the time to drive to the city and visit a real record store — even with the extra gas money I’ll still come out well ahead.

My best friend took me to this record shop, which was a place he happened to have driven by. I’m a new vinyl collector and was very excited to look at the selection he had. The owner was fantastic and very helpful. He was able find a few things for my friend and I. Not only was he very helpful and personable, he doesn’t believe in charging shipping. Which, I should have a specially ordered vinyl coming in soon.
The owner had a very solid work ethic and really enjoys connecting with his customers. You could really sense he had a «anything for the customer» business ethic. It was really awesome!

This is a great little store. The owner is SUPER friendly and helpful. The prices aren’t dirt cheap or anything, but I bought three records here, 2 used, 1 new, and they are all in FLAWLESS condition. They aren’t crazy pricy either though; I got some very good records there for a better price than if I went to a chain that carries vinyl, like Barnes and Noble. Overall an awesome place and I’ll be coming back. Support local, yo.

Mile Long Records, along with Purple Dog Records in Naperville and Rediscover Records in Elgin, represent a new batch of record stores that have opened up in the Western suburbs within the last few years. This «new crop» is interesting, as they are opening in locations where stores might have not been found in the past (typically the down town areas of their respective towns), and they are focusing much more heavily on stocking LPs rather than CDs. In most cases, the stores also offer other services, such as turntable repair, cartridge sales, or special ordering of LPs, which makes them like some of the stores they’ve replaced that used to service these areas at one time (e.g., Remember When, Threshold, Record Swap, etc.)
On the whole, it’s good for the record buyer that these places have turned up, as there is now more choice of shopping possibilities for LP buyers in the Western and Northwestern suburbs now than there has been in some time. This is especially true when one also combines the various Half Price Books locations that have been springing up the last 5 years or so, 2^nd and Charles in Naperville, and older stores that are «still around» like Kiss the Sky in Batavia, Algonquin Records in Des Plaines, and Rainbow Records in Barrington.
Mile Long Records is the Wheaton addition to this newer set of stores. Like others in this group, they have nice prices and a nice selection of new LPs – that is, LPs that are still sealed and come from the factory that way. The place is also run by a guy who seems really nice, is definitely a fan of music, and is a supporter of the local music scene who hosts acoustic sets from local talent from time to time. All of these things make the store a great place to shop for new music and also to go to support local talent.
One the minus side, however, Mile Long also shares a negative similarity with some of the other suburban stores like Kiss the Sky or Rediscover Records. This negative is the pricing on used LPs. For some, that is, things that are more «run of the mill,» the prices tend to be reasonable compared wtih other stores in the suburbs and also the Chicago-​area more generally (see my other reviews of 60 other stores in the area to understand the comparisons I am making here in my statements). However, for albums that the owner deems «collectable*,» the prices can be quite variable. Some are still reasonable – for instance – prices on George Harrison’s solo output are about what we would expect. But then other times, the prices can be quite high – for instance – LPs by David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix – all of which were 2 to 3 times higher than I have seen these LPs offered for at other stores in the Chicagoland marketplace.
(* I put «collectable» in quotes because often times, these albums really are not – for instance, stuff by Dylan, Hendrix, or Springsteen, and US Pressings of Bowie, Floyd, and Stones stuff, can actually be found pretty easily, and in good condition, at affordable prices, if one is patient enough. Thus, they are not actually rare, which is one thing that «collectable» is used to mean. Another, and what makes it get called «collectable» by these suburban stores – is that it is expected than fans of these groups will want the album when they find it and probably don’t want to wait. Hence they’ll pay more for them. This also explains why the albums often sell for higher than they should on Ebay, a second factor which encourages stores like this to charge more for these kinds of LPs, as Ebay prices seem to influence decisions. However, stores I can think of offhand who offer the records at 2 – 3 times less than the prices one tends to see at stores like Mile Long are Half Price Books, Reckless, Oak Park Records, The Old School Records, and Logan Hardware, among others.)
Mile Long is certainly not the only store in the suburbs to do this (see also Green Tangerine, Kiss the Sky, Music Masters, and Rediscover), but they do conform to this general trend of over charging for «collectable» LPs, none the less, which is something consumers should keep in mind when buying used LPs.
One thing that does set them apart from Kiss the Sky, Rediscover, Music Masters, and Green Tangerine, however, is that although the pricing on the «collectable» stuff is hit or miss, the selection of used LPs here is much, much better than the other places. They have a *lot* of catalog by artists they stock.
In conclusion, if pricing on used LPs is something you are concerned about when you shop for non-​new vinyl, you might be safer sticking to other stores in the suburbs, like Half Price Books in Barrington or Palatine, and 2^nd and Charles in Naperville. However, if you are looking for deeper catalog items and don’t mind paying more, then Mile Long is the place to go. In addition, for the new stuff, and if you want to go to a place with a nice vibe that also works to support the local music community, Mile Long is also a good place to go.

A few months ago I knew nothing of the vinyl community. This shop took me under their wing, per-​say. They helped me through every aspect of what I was looking for, including my budget and upkeep for the records.
Since then, I’ve been to every record store in the area. I can say with the upmost confidence that this is by leaps and bounds the best. Extremely clean and well organized, Mile Long is stocked with a great new vinyl selection. The owner is extremely kind, and has nothing but a smile if you request any available album be ordered in. Price wise, this shop is on par with Amazon. Though, if you ask me, I would much rather support this local business.

In addition to vinyl, there is a small CDs section. They do have some of the awful post-​vinyl tchochkes (candy dishes made of old records; coasters made from old record labels), but they have both collectible-​type vinyl (well-​organized in classic record bins; prices look reasonable) and more well-​worn vinyl (still well-​organized, on shelves in the back with titles’ first letter clearly called out). Interesting selection; Spike Jones’ best for $ 8. Hmm.
The 45s are beautifully organized (all alphabetical! Swoon!) and are, if memory serves, $ 4 each. CD’s section are $ 3; $ 5 for double albums; discs are in the cases, and they range from classic rock (Beatles; 1970s Elton John; Black Sabbath) to early 2000s. Maybe more recent; I don’t follow pop music very closely.
A nice little shop; I picked up half a dozen CDs to listen to in my car for less than $ 20.