Three Friends Record Sale returns July 13 in Mount Prospect
Three Mount Prospect friends, Bob, Bob and Fred, will hold a gigantic vinyl record sale from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 13, at 306 W. Hiawatha Trail, Mount Prospect, off Elmhurst Road/Route 83, near Golf Road.
Thousands of records provided by the ‘Three Friends’ for this one-day sale include vintage and new sealed vinyl in all genres — rock, jazz, country, comedy, movie soundtracks, world music, children’s and more. These include hard to find, rare pressings and collectible records. A vast selection of 45s, CDs and DVDs will also be available.
For years customers have been finding jewels at the Three Friends Record Sales. At the same time, demand for vinyl has surged. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reports that “recorded music revenues in the U.S. in 2023 continued strong growth for the eighth consecutive year. Total revenues grew 8% to a record high $17.1 billion compared to $15.9 billion in 2022.”
The quality of the vinyl sound and the album artwork are some of the reasons sales continue to surge.
Noting the increasing demand for popular and hard to find vinyl records, the Three Friends, Bob Szeliga, Bob Hurns and Fred Prellberg — each with music industry experience and knowledge — have found additional hard-to-find stock for the sale. Each will have tables of records, CDs, and music-related DVDs for sale. New sealed 180-gram vinyl including exclusive Record Store Day releases will also be available.
“It’s great to see many returning customers, now friends, and be able to say ‘yes, we have it here’ to someone searching for a specific album,” Hurns said. “We have seen the popularity of vinyl continuing to grow worldwide. Everywhere we go from Budapest to Vienna to London’s Portobello Road to Canterbury and more, everyone’s selling vinyl. We love finding international pressings for the sale.”
“This massive sale will have just about any music one is looking for,” Szeliga, record sale host, said. “We have music for everyone — jazz, rock, blues and much of it hard to find. I have been doing this for several years. Demand keeps increasing. When Bob and Fred joined me last year for the sale, the line stretched down the street waiting for the sale to start. It’s a great experience in itself. We see many kids and teens starting to collect vinyl and we enjoy sharing tips on what bands to give a listen to. Other customers are more than willing to share their memories of iconic bands they saw back in the day.”
“I have a ton of new stock for customers to check out including international pressings, hard to find music including Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Bowie and more. I’ve added 100s of great CDs, 45s and music-related DVDs for this sale,” Hurns said. “The last sale was great fun. I sold rock, instrumental, movie soundtracks, country, big band, female artists, humor and a lot of Beatles.”
“Customers won’t be disappointed. They’ll find great music Saturday,” Prellberg said. “I’ll have mostly new music, much of it sealed!” He specializes in sealed 180-gram vinyl including exclusive Record Store Day releases.
With their knowledge of music Bob, Bob and Fred help people find what they’re searching for and recommend new music or artists to give a listen to while offering every type of record you may want, a friend said.
People of all ages shop the record sale. Last summer the Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers, Little Feat, Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, Santana, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Rush were just a few of the artists that sold quickly. Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd sold out fast.
The sale will happen rain or shine, discounts are available. They noted, “If you love music, collect vinyl, you won’t want to miss this sale.”