You Spin Me Around

When most people think of Princeton the town, they think of Palmer Square, upscale shopping and froyo. So. Much. Froyo. What they don’t realize is that Princeton is home to a record store consistently ranked among the top 10 record stores in America.

Princeton Record Exchange, affectionately known as P-Rex, has been selling affordable CDs, DVDs and vinyl since 1980. As you can see in the picture above, the selection at P-Rex is enormous. It’s easy to find something for anyone and everyone. To prove it, I went with my friends Amy, Colleen and Chris.

Amy came to P-Rex with a mission. She and her friend Katherine are starting a Gilmore Girls marathon, and Amy needed to buy the first season. Luckily, she found it almost immediately, and it was $30 cheaper than the normal list price.

At P-Rex, you can find a lot of cult classics and TV shows that were canceled too soon. Colleen would have bought this copy of Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series if she didn’t own it already. Instead, she left it for you! Buy it—it will make you this happy.

When it comes to music, there are more choices than you could ever wish for: jazz, classical, rock, pop, electronic, R&B and more. Many of the CDs are used and can be purchased for next to nothing. Chris picked out Jama Ko by Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba.

I went immediately to the record section. P-Rex is one of the few record stores I’ve been to that sells new as well as vintage records. I have a record player at my house in Chicago, so I buy records from P-Rex and then stack them up on a bookshelf in my dorm until I get a chance to bring them home. This one was an exciting find—Days Are Gone by HAIM!

The movie selection is also incredible. I’ve bought some of my favorite movies at P-Rex for $3 each. When we went, there was a little display set up for this year’s award-winning films. Chris and Amy picked out the French film Blue is the Warmest Color.