I’m pretty sure I have the address right… if you catch the train from Mechelen  – which you would pass coming from Brussels I believe – get out of the station and follow the main road that has the tram line on it going into the main city square. It’s a bit of a nonsensical set up of a city in that the main station is almost 30 mins walk out of the CBD or tourist centre.

Anyway, I chose to walk so I could get to know the streets better. This paid off too because I came across this bookstore that sold records (bookshops often seem to be where you find the best records in Belgium). Picked up a rare Afro number and some cosmic 7″s for 1 euro each. Definitely worth popping into.

Make sure you continue up the street and into the main township. It’s really beautiful. Grab a waffle and just sit on the canal and take it all in. Marvellous!

Boeken En CD Markt de Kaft, Kortrijksesteenweg, Gent, België

Warren however had to let the business go a couple of years back. Thankfully it didn’t disappear or get turned into a convenience store. It was taken over by Paul and Renae, a husband and wife team who obviously recognised the shop to be a true record lover’s paradise, and renamed it accordingly.

The main change that anyone familiar with Warren’s will notice is that the shop is now considerably easier to navigate. The vast array of 45s, LPs, 12s and even old 78s is still there, but arranged in a much more user friendly fashion. Record Paradise also now carries  books, CDs and DVDs plus the odd vintage turntable and some replacement stylii.

Record Paradise is a great example of what fresh energy and love can do to a business. Warren’s was truly awesome, but perhaps a little intimidating to the uninitiated. Record Paradise is still a goldmine, but you won’t spend quite as long or get quite as dusty finding what you seek.

Record Paradise, 100 Chapel Street (almost at corner of Carlisle) St Kilda. Tel 03 9534 9344.

Record Paradise also holds a garage sale – more like a mini record fair – in Brunswick every so often. Here you’ll find about 10,000 records plus books, CDs and tapes. The next one is on Sunday August 7 from 10am – 4pm at 15 Union Street Brunswick.

I discovered The Searchers one morning circa 2008 while loitering near the corner of Smith and Gertrude waiting for a cheese and tomato toasty from Dr Java. Having only recently opened, the shop contained just a few shelves of secondhand books and some bins of used records. A noncommittal browse yielded instant results (a Supermax LP from memory) so I kept coming back.

In the intervening years proprietor Damien has developed The Searchers into a solidly stocked secondhand dealer.  While the books outnumber the records these days, the selection of secondhand vinyl and CDs is well curated and accurately priced – unlike some other Smith Street dealers I could mention.

The Searchers is also a genius example of DIY shopfitting – Damien constructed all the shelving and racking himself, complete with rolling library ladder for those top-shelf items.

93 Smith Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065. Tel: (03) 9939 0096

Graham Jones is to independent record shops what David Suzuki is to the ozone layer. His book “Last Shop Standing” looks at the decline of independent music retail, examining why there’s now a 7-11 where your local record shop used to be.

Jones has been involved in British music retail and distribution all his life. He’s passionate about his work and loves record shops and the people who run them, but his book is more than a misty-eyed remembrance of shops long closed. Jones’ examination of how factors like the rise of retail mega-brands, illegal downloading and the business practices of record labels themselves have all contributed to the gradual attrition of independent music retail is incisive and enlightening.

The book wastes no time in making its intentions clear – it opens with a roll call of the 500+ music shops that have closed across the UK over the last four years.  The grim realities are tempered with tales of how some smart operators have managed to stay afloat against the odds and Jones’ own recollections of record shops he’s had dealings with over the years. The latter will raise a smile from anyone who’s ever worked in one.

If you love record shops or are interested in the changing landscape of independent retail in general, read “Last Shop Standing”.

LSS is published by Proper Music Publishing Ltd; ISBN 0956121209. It’s the official book of World Record Store Day (April 17, 2010) and is available from your local (independent) record shop and good bookshops everywhere.