Bill Melander’s The Record Exchange

Known as “The Old Man’s” or “The Hangout” (ideal for record collectors because you could get records for 5 cents) Bill Melander’s The Record Exchange was located at 172 Eddy Street until 1965. It was demolished as part of The City’s program to renovate lower Eddy Street.

“Pops Melander’s Eddy St. establishment looks like a lesson in how not to run a record shop. Instead it’s become a favorite hangout of record collectors and familiar jazz musicians, who delightedly sniff the aroma of musty shellac and shuffle around the grimy floor, where the worn needles are sprinkled like sequins. Youngsters starting to peddle platters cannot hope to achieve this patrician air overnight: It’s taken Pops 27 years to get his shop into the state of homely chaos shown in the pictures above.”

 

Image credits:
William “Pops” Melander helping a customer at The Record Exchange, 1947.  From the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, SFPL.
Group of people in The Record Exchange at 172 Eddy Street, 1947.  From the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, SFPL