Spillers Records, The Hayes, Cardiff, UK

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Situated in the Hayes part of Cardiff's main shopping area, Spillers Records may well be the oldest surviving record store in the world. Established in 1894, the place has refused to sell out to anyone, it's only slight concession to modern times being the fact that like many independents it is now part of the 'Chain With No Name'1.

The store is quite small and very busy on Saturdays. If you want a good browse round, it's worth going during weekdays in the early afternoon, where you're fairly likely to bump into the odd skiving student, but not many other people.

The selection of CDs is pretty good, and along with the usual pop and rock scene, Spillers cover such varied genres as dance, industrial, underground, and the like.

As it's part of 'The Chain with no Name' the prices are good, less than any of the major chains in the main part of Cardiff's shopping centre, and the staff are always very helpful.

1The 'Chain With No Name' is a British independent record store innovation. When many of these stores began to disappear due to the emergence of the big players such as HMV and Virgin, who could always invariably get anything you wanted, dozens of the independents set up a loose network. Often shortened to CWNN, the basic advantage is that all stores involved have been able to keep their prices significantly lower than the major chains, and they now have the support of each-other for obtaining rare albums, imports, and for sharing stock.

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