Groove Merchant Records

What you need to know

What you’ll find

The bins lean heavily toward jazz and soul, with depth across rock, blues, disco 12-inches, international music, hip hop, punk, avant garde, and soundtracks. The store specializes in rare grooves and often-requested classics.

The Story

Ubiquity Records’ Michael McFadin opened Groove Merchant in 1990, originally as part of Rooky Ricardo’s record store across the street. The shop is now owned by Chris Veltri. The name is a reference to the 1970s jazz and R&B label. The Beastie Boys name-checked the shop on their Check Your Head album.

Visiting

Located at 687 Haight Street in the Lower Haight.

Getting there

On Haight Street, near Pierce. The 6-Haight/Parnassus and 7-Haight/Noriega buses both run on Haight Street. The 22-Fillmore runs one block east on Fillmore. The nearest Muni Metro is the N-Judah at Church Street Station (Duboce & Church), about a 10-minute walk south. Street parking is tight on Haight; side streets usually have spots.