Perhaps there are better sites to see on the West Coast but I always thoroughly enjoy visiting Amoeba Music, the best used music store I have ever seen. Prior to this month, I had visited two of the locations (San Francisco and Berkeley). On a recent vacation to California, my wife and I visited the Hollywood location, the biggest store of the three.

The selection is beyond what I have found in any other music store. In the world of music retail that has seen the closure of Tower Records and Virgin Megastores plus the decline in CD sales, Amoeba stands out as a place where you can find everything. The pop/rock section is extensive but so are the other sections which include electronica, soul, jazz, Latin, and classical. I don’t know where they get all their used music but this isn’t like most used music stores that have been taken over by DVDs and video games.

My only complaint is that some of the used CDs are pricey ($8-10). However, this is offset by the extensive selection: I have found numerous CDs that I have never seen in any other American retail store.

I particularly like the initial sight of walking in past the registers and seeing the large sales floor and the many people happily milling about. An enjoyable experience for all music fans.