Jackpot Records

Visited for the first time yesterday while in town on vacation. Was very impressed with its selection considering its size. We spent about an hour in here and only stopped cause we reached a financial limit.
The soundtrack section has tons of hard to find horror soundtracks. The kid’s section has fun stuff I didn’t know existed. Hip hop boasted cool stuff both new and old school.
And in the rock section I got a Record Store Day release I wasn’t able to pick up on RSD — this might indicate the store is not super high volume all the time and that’s a shame cause it’s a great store.
Person behind the counter was funny and informed. Offered insight but wasn’t pushy.
I left with 5 new to me albums, 3 used, 2 new. Very happy with my purchases. Would totally come back again.

Local record store with a great mix of used and new wax. Very responsive to messages asking if they have something in-​stock. Sure, you could buy the new Taylor Swift vinyl from Urban Outfitters, but is that really what you want from your life? Think about that. Then go to Jackpot and buy their records.

This place is cool and the staff are super helpful. kyle and chris both helped me with a hard to find item and without there help i would have been spinning my wheels for days. If you need some professional help on a inquiry drop in on this place. Grab a free sticker and slap it on your subaru. BAM!

The record selection was tiny, but it’s nice that they had a listening station!

I purchased 2 records while shopping at Jackpot, but I can’t say I was overly impressed with the store or its service. Based on other records stores I’ve been to, the selection and prices here wasn’t nearly as impressive The employees, while not unfriendly, weren’t very helpful either… especially when I asked a couple of questions.
What stood out to me was the lack of enthusiasm at Jackpot. When shopping at records stores like this, I usually find very enthusiastic employees who like to discuss the pros (and cons) of albums, vintage releases and the resurgence of vinyl popularity.
While paying, I mentioned to the cashier that I had recently scored some mint condition albums from the 50s, 60s and 70s for a mere $ 1 a piece at white elephant sale. All he said was something like, «Oh. that’s nice.» He didn’t even bother to ask any follow up questions. The young lady at the counter was a little more engaging.
Again…nothing really wrong here, but nothing outstanding either.

Updating my review since they now have a listening station! Though, most if their stuff is new, so I’m not sure they’d let you open it up, but it’s still really helpful for used records to make sure the play quality is good.

5 stars for this temple of pristine vinyl and CDs (which I think are also vinyl ;) in the Hawthorne neighborhood. The place is clean, organized, staffed by nice people (at least when I was in), and customer-​friendly. For example, I asked the clerk if he had heard a Portishead album with which I was unfamiliar. He had, but instead of offering his opinion, he pulled out the disc and pointed me the CD player and headphones.
The selection is wide ranging, from rare blues to a mint copy of PiL’s first album, «Religion Attack.» I walked out with «High Violet» from The National, a band I just learned about a couple of years ago.
P. S. If you’re visiting Portland, as I was, get into the neighborhoods like Hawthorne and Clinton. That’s where the people live and there are some cool places outside the city center.
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Jackpot doesn’t really seem to do what their name implies.
It was a nice enough location and the employees were again… nice, enough. But the selection seemed pretty lackluster and there didn’t seem to be any hidden gems lurking behind the scenes. Prices on each record seemed to be pretty in line with other places that I’ve been (if not maybe a bit more expensive), but there just didn’t seem to be anything exciting and even some questionable classifications as far as genres are concerned, thus making it harder to find what we were looking for.

It’s not that Jackpot doesn’t carry every single record I’ve ever wanted — it’s that they don’t really carry much of anything. Their bargain bins are worth looking through, though. I loved Jackpot when I was just starting out with records, but I have found that pretty much every other record shop in Portland has a better selection (even the Jackpot on Burnside is slightly better than this one). If you really want a musical experience on Hawthorne head over to Crossroads.

I like this location a lot more than the other store, bigger with more selection, however, prices are hit and miss. Customer service was neutral, however, I did walk away with a few gems.

I love this place. Anytime my boyfriend and I are running errands on Hawthorne we always make it a point to stop into Jackpot to peruse their selection and see if we can find anything on our lists. I think it’s difficult to hate on Jackpot or any record store for that matter for not having what you’re looking for, in this day and age it’s hard for a brick and mortar shop to carry every possible vinyl that someone could want on any given day. This place constantly carries new and old stuff that’s is changing from week to week. It’s awesome. I think it’s important when shopping for vinyl or anything music related to have a working list of artists and albums you’d like to add to your collection so that when you’re near a record store you can pop in to see if they have anything you’re hoping to own. And if there’s something that you’re totally searching for, I’m sure the friendly people at Jackpot would be happy to order it for you or keep an eye out for you. I love this place and it only deserves 5 star reviews. :D
PS. They have the nicest, new Australian girl working there. She is so friendly, says hello to everyone that walks in the door and is super spunky and upbeat. She knows her music too! She even let me take home a Washed Out poster. She’s the coolest and I love when small businesses have awesome staff that really stand out.

Smaller than Music Millenium &, thus, with less listening stations & selection, I still really dig Jackpot because they specialize in the kinds of music I dig: punky rocky psych & local stuff. They have an ok jazz selection, too. Biggest plus is that they have their own record label, producing new stuff & reissues. Shopping there you can support a local independent record store & label at the same time!

Seemed like a cool spot to find interesting and rare records. A friend sent me by to pick up a record by a Portland band that only sells their work to a few stores on consignment. They were super nice and found it for me pretty fast.

I am drawn to all things vinyl and so was automatically sucked into Jackpot Records. I found some gems in this little record shop and walked out with 8 vintage records that I had to drag back on the plane, but all worth. I would live in this shop if I lived in this area. As I bought 8 records and had no place to carry them in, the owner threw in a free Jackpot Records bag and made a new friend in the bargain.
K & K
Walnut Creek, Ca

One of the smallest record stores I’ve been to. They didn’t have what I was looking for but I do like this store being here because they sell tickets to a handfull of shows.

Honestly the selection here was on par. They had lots of records in stock and after record store day they even had a few goodies left.

Out of all the record stores I have been to so far in Portland, Jackpot Records is easily the one I was least impressed with. Yes, they had a decent selection of artist to choose from, and yes, the store was well maintained and easy to sort through. However, that is really where the positive points end for me.
The first thing I noticed about Jackpot is that it was the only record store I visited where I wasn’t greeted with a warm smile and hello. Now, is this entirely out of the ordinary for a record store? No. On the other hand, when you are in a city where everyone is ridiculously friendly, you might as well join in. Sometimes I think people forget how far a smile can really go with a customer. In addition, their prices were absolutely horrendous. They were so bad in fact, I only spent about ten minutes in the store before calling it quits. Why am I going to pay you twice as much for the same record I can get down the street for half the price? No thank you.
At the end, to me, Jackpot Records feels like a record store that was built specifically to cater to those who only buy records because its the cool and hip thing to do. Unfortunately for me, I am a life long music nerd, and being so, I will always be to some degree uncool. Maybe I am missing something here, but for now, I have no real plans to return.

I LOVE JACKPOT RECORDS. Though there are many other good record shops in Portland I have to say that I really found the best stuff here. Actually the BF as well. Prices are reasonable and the selection is really good. All sorts of genres of music both new and old. The people that work here are super friendly and not pretentious music snobs.
True, it’s smaller but I like that. If yo are expecting some large store then there’s Amoeba and for those who whine of hipsters then you will be miserable. I didn’t spot «hipsters» in Jackpot just people who dig music. There is no dress code to enter Jackpot and if you are one who suffers from insecurity and intimidated by those who do have visible tattoos and has a style (referring to a lame review) then dear I am sorry and you may as well isolate yourself in your own world and never go outside.
So to end my review I like Jackpot Records.

Small store. Decent selection. Decent prices. My son bought his first vinyl record here last week (Aerosmith — Permanent Vacation)…now I need to get him a record player.
The gentleman behind the counter was pretty knowledgeable on music. And they were playing The Cramps… which my wife loved hearing.
My son took a liking to this record store, so I’m sure we’ll be back on our visits to the Hawthorne.

I came in here on a hot, sweltering, sweat sticking to your back day back in July. There was no air conditioning so that probably keeps me from bumping this up to four stars. Uncomfortable to the point of distraction it was so hot. But I endured.
Jackpot Records sits along Hawthorne. Everyone is so cool and stylish I felt weird because I didn’t have many visible tattoos, thick rimmed glasses or skinny jeans. Nonetheless I picked up the Sleigh Bells CD which will forever make me think of the summer I lived in Portland whenever it’s played. The guy working that day was kind enough to give his opinion on which LCD Soundsystem cd I should buy. It was solid advice.
They have a nice selection but the place was on the small end. Perhaps it’s the Jackpot Records near downtown Portland that helped get it on a list of the top record stores on the West Coast I recently read on NY Times or some similar publication that has a fetish for all things Portland. If you need some music you can hold in your hand and actually play on a non-​digital device, this is certainly a solid option.

Seemingly larger selection than the downtown location, but still picking up some of the same attitude from employees (not mean, just aloof.) I have never purchased any music here for
myself, because I’m admittedly not on the up and up. Prices on used items are very inflated, and the selection sparse. I get bored here pretty quickly. This seems like a great place if you are into what is new and hip. It is a sparkly, pretty, well-​lit space which could be interpreted as minimalist or sterile depending on your sensibilities. I can understand why this is a Portland institution, it’s just not for me.