Record Store Day in Akron, Ohio
Two dates to know: Record Store Day Black Friday is Friday, November 29, 2026, and the next main Record Store Day is Saturday, April 17, 2027.
What is Record Store Day?
Record Store Day is an annual event built around independent record stores. The main event traditionally lands on the third Saturday of April each year; Record Store Day Black Friday is traditionally held the day after US Thanksgiving. Both days bring exclusive, limited-run vinyl and CD releases sold only at participating independent shops — not big-box retailers, and not mail order until the in-store exclusives sell through. Because pressings are limited, popular titles can sell out within the first hour, which is why a line-early culture has grown up around the day even at shops that are otherwise quiet on a weekday morning.
Tips for the day
- Arrive early. At busy shops, lines for popular titles can start well before opening.
- Bring cash. A cash line often moves faster than card on a shop's highest-volume day of the year.
- Check each shop's own site or Instagram in the week before the date — participating shops post their own opening time, line policy, and which exclusive titles they've ordered in.
- Release lists are first-come, first-served and vary store to store. A title in stock at one shop may not show up at another, even across town.
- Expect one-per-customer or per-household limits on the most in-demand titles.
- Not every independent record store participates every year, and allocations vary shop to shop — confirm directly with the shop rather than assuming based on a past year.
Shops to check in Akron, Ohio
Independent record shops open in Akron, Ohio right now. We don't yet track which specific shops participate in Record Store Day or what they've ordered in for a given year — check each shop's own site or Instagram close to the date for their exclusive-release list, opening time, and line policy.
- Big D's Records
Vinyl record and turntable shop founded in 2019 by Derek Read, now a Summit Mall storefront in Fairlawn; new and used LPs, players, CDs, cassettes and even 8-tracks alongside music memorabilia.
3 sources
- FYE
National f.y.e. media-and-collectibles chain outlet at Summit Mall, opened Nov 2015; sells new vinyl records alongside CDs, movies, games and pop-culture merch. Located in the same mall as Big D's Records.
3 sources
- Hollow Bone Records
Akron-area indie record store opened by Jerrod Woll in 2015 after he left a corporate sales career; new and used vinyl across rock, pop, blues, R&B, jazz, metal, punk, reggae, garage rock, hip hop, folk and country, plus in-store performances.
4 sources
- The Retro Attic
Themed vintage-media shop with dedicated rooms for vinyl, cassettes and CDs alongside VHS, DVDs, and pop-culture memorabilia. Owner Kevin McBryer curates deep 80s/90s crate-digging finds.
3 sources
- Time Traveler Records
Akron tradition since 1980 and one of Northeast Ohio's longest-running independent record stores. Owner Scott Shepherd runs deep bins of used vinyl, CDs, and rare collector finds near downtown Akron.
2 sources
See the full record store listing for Akron, Ohio.