Classic Record Shop : Peter Dunn's Vinyl Museum, Toronto

In this video, I take another look at a classic record shop that I visited many years ago. This is another record shop that was located in Toronto. The location I visited was on Bloor Street West. It was called Peter Dunn's Vinyl Museum. They were located right across the street from the infamous Honest Ed's.
As I mention in the video, I do not want to give the impression that I am only featuring Toronto record shops in this series. This is simply not the case. It just so happens that Toronto was the very first major city that I lived in, and many of the classic record shops I visited in my younger days just happened to be there. But never fear, I will also feature record shops in other North American cities!
I visited Peter Dunn's Vinyl Museum once and only once. It was on a rainy evening way back in 1993. Even though I was only there very briefly, it left a definite impression on me. Watch the video to hear my story about a dollar record bin, a coupon, and a major score that I landed! :)
Like many classic old record shops, this place was loaded with ambiance and character. Their selection was amazing. They had a "dollar a record" section that seemed never ending. I even recall they had 8 tracks! It was just one of those old fashioned, slightly cluttered, slightly rough around the edges record shops that I love so much.
Have you ever been to this record store? Do you recall other locations of Peter Dunn's Vinyl Museum? Did you grow up in Toronto in the 80s and 90s? What was your favorite record shop? Please leave a comment!
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[@lmsbmc]

Peter Dunn is a personal friend of mine who I had the privilage of meeting 30+ years ago when he came to Buffalo to purchase vinyl records from our 100,000 sq ft warehouse. The name of the company I worked for was Transcontinent Record Sales. At the time we were the 7th largest record wholesaler in the United States. We were not only distributers of many independent record labels (ABC records, Dunhill, Arista, Atlantic, Atco, Phillies, Starday/King, A&M, Casablanca, White Whale, Abkco Buddah, ETC. We also were the 3rd largest record rackjobber in the U.S. selling to Twin Fair, W.T. Grant, Two Guys, S.E Nichols, and Woolworths National Record Mart, ETC. To top it off the company also owned Amherst records, a label who released records by Spyro Gyra, Glenn Medeiros, Doc Severenson and the Tonight show Band, The Stylistics, Melanie, and Paul Butterfield. I will never forget the time we sold Peter a tractor trailor load of 200,000 albums including a pallet of Evel Kneivel. To this day I still talk to and email Peter. It is my honor to be able to call him my friend. Larry Silver

[@techreviewguy7771]

Thanks for sharing. I love to hear these stories!

[@billherzin3653]

hey there...for whatever reason, i was up late and searched out my friend Peter Dunn's old store in Toronto, and you had just put this video up. I met Peter in the late 1980s, then worked for him later on in the mid 1990s before i left to live in the United States. His main location was on Yonge Street, but also had smaller stores on Bloor Street and then Lakeshore Blvd in Etobicoke. I think there was an original Lakeshore store, but then he moved that down more toward the western end of Toronto before closing down. I believe that Lakeshore store was the last location to close. Yes, Peter was a Christian, and wanted to share his faith by including little Bible verses and sometimes tracts in the records. He was uber sincere, and a good man. I always appreciated his friendship.

[@techreviewguy7771]

I wish I had met him. He sounds like a wonderful guy! I wish I had visited the other locations.

[@rezahosein7863]

I attended Cawthra Park Highschool in Mississauga and frequented the location in Etobicoke near Browns Line. One of my friends at the time eventually worked there for years till it closed. It was special it really got me loving music and understanding 90's hip-hop with the sampling and production techniques.

[@techreviewguy7771]

Thanks for your awesome memories. I am glad I made this video. The store obviously touched many people's lives!

[@sumerlawrence]

As a teenager I used to go to the Younge location. I remember picking up a few records that I still have to this day. I also remember going to the Lakeshore location when it was closing. I lived in that area at the time and went with a friend. I believe some records were 50 cents. Some may have even been 10 cents. You rarely get deals like that nowadays with the exception of kops every so often.

[@techreviewguy7771]

Thanks for sharing your awesome memories!

[@Leicaphile27]

Where did you find that photo of the Bloor St store closing? Please let me know.

[@techreviewguy7771]

I stumbled upon it online many years ago.