To be honest I barely remember this but one of my favourite haunts in the city was Chalmers and Joy, near the bus station. Downstairs there were plenty of Scottish traditional, folk and so on, but upstairs was where anything new and alternative was sold. It would be easy to mock the hierarchy of the musical genres, but upstairs had a lot more space so would have been more ideal for the array of records they had. It was also memorable for the staircase on whichevery space was taken up by a poster. porky prime cuts
We sought out Bruce Millers and Chalmers and Joy, both emporia of rock then in George Street, Telemech in Marischal Street and the ever-reliable Woolworths, where bargains could often be had due to a bizarre pricing regime which more than once saw credible chart albums reduced to 50p because the wifie in charge confused James Last with James Taylor or Frankie Vaughan and Frankie Miller.
“SELF-SERVICE in grocers’ shops, paint shops and many others is becoming the watchword. But it is not so usual to find it in a record shop. Yet Chalmers & Joy Ltd., 203 George Street, Aberdeen, have taken this imaginative step. 'lt will be the second self-service shop for records in Scotland”, Mr. A. Chalmers, the proprietor, assured me. Naturally, such enterprise requires complete renovation of the existing premises. EMI Records (Shop-fitting and Display Division) accomplished this in two days. It shows what can be done. In pleasing surroundings, and standing on comfortable dark green carpet tiles, the customer can choose at leisure. There are vinyl covered hardboard panels in the clear strong shades that are fashionable, and the strip lighting gives excellent vision. Among the advantages of self-service are that prices may be held down because a much larger volume of business can be coped with. A great deal of space is saved - records are displayed on racks, not stored. There's time for the customer to look around - no sales pressure: though, of course, help and advice in choosing are willingly given if requested. The shop has music to suit all tastes.”