CD Cellar

Tucked into downtown Falls Church at 105 Park Avenue, CD Cellar has been buying, selling, and trading physical music since 1992, making it one of the longer running independent record stores in the Washington DC metro area. The shop describes itself as a record store for the Mid-Atlantic, and the label fits: its stock of more than 40,000 new and used titles spans vinyl records, CDs, SACDs, cassettes, films, and audiophile hi-fi gear, with dedicated sections carved out for jazz and classical listeners alongside the expected rock, pop, hip hop, and soul bins that make up the bulk of most crate digging visits. Collectors driving in from Arlington, Alexandria, DC, or further out in Maryland come specifically for the store’s reputation with rare and valuable pressings; staff specialize in appraising original first pressings, scarce audiophile editions, and historically significant releases, pricing them at fair market value rather than guessing. That expertise extends into the store’s collection buying business, which is arguably as central to its identity as the retail floor. CD Cellar purchases everything from a single stack of records to an entire estate, sending staff out for on site evaluations and offering professional appraisals, moving help, and support for downsizing or estate liquidation when a collection is too large to bring in. Sellers can walk out with same day cash or take store credit that stretches further toward the next find, and the buying counter accepts not just vinyl and CDs but movies, tapes, music books, reel to reel tape, and vintage audio equipment, a broader net than most used media shops bother to cast. The store is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, closing only for Thanksgiving and Christmas, which makes it a dependable stop whether someone is killing an afternoon or making a dedicated pilgrimage from out of state. Falls Church’s small, walkable downtown gives the shop a neighborhood feel even as its customer base pulls from across Northern Virginia and into the District, and regulars often describe treating a visit here the way audiophiles treat a favorite diner, a place to check in on rotating stock and catch up with staff who actually know the difference between a first pressing and a reissue. For anyone building a serious listening room, hunting a specific pressing to complete a collection, or simply looking to unload boxes of records inherited from a relative, CD Cellar’s three decade run in Falls Church and its willingness to travel for larger acquisitions set it apart from typical secondhand media stores that only handle walk in trades. The combination of deep genre coverage, in house appraisal expertise, and flexible cash or credit payouts has kept the store relevant through the shift from physical to streaming media, serving a customer base that never stopped valuing a physical collection. CD Cellar in Falls Church, Virginia is an independent record and CD store operating since 1992 that buys, sells, and appraises vinyl, CDs, tapes, movies, and vintage audio equipment for collectors throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.