• the217
• Music
• Best Place To Buy Music

Related Media

Jeff Brandt, owner of Exile on Main Street, looks through the store's huge selection of music, wednesday, February 20, 2007. (Tom Root, Buzz photographer)

Runners-up

Best Buy 2117 N. Prospect Ave., C. 352-8883
iTunes
See complete Best of CU results

Related Venues

Exile on Main Street »
Address: 1 E. Main St. Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 398-6246
Show on map

Exile on Main Street (located next to the award-winning Merry Ann’s Diner in downtown Champaign) takes home the award for Best Place to Buy Music in Champaign-Urbana by a narrow margin (like, one vote). Even though this was a close one, Exile is a great source for anyone who takes collecting music seriously. Unlike certain big-box competitors (not naming names), Exile offers new, used AND out-of-print albums for reasonable prices in a comfortable atmosphere. Also, for you vinyl junkies out there, Exile has a great variety on display, as well as many more in boxes around the store. But, hands down, the best quality of Exile is its selection of local music, which takes up about half as much space as the popular new releases. There are always plenty of discs by local bands in stock and they cost about the same as they would if you bought them at a live show. The retro figurines behind the counter deserve some props, too.