Record Reserve – Huntington Station

Record Reserve – 741 W. Jericho Turnpike, Huntington Station, NY 11743 (Long Island) – Open Article updated Jan. 12, 2026.

When I originally wrote this post in 2020, Record Reserve was in Northport at 243 Main St., Northport (Long Island) New York  11768.  They are still open, but have moved to Huntington Station in a small strip mall next to a Yoga studio.  Opened in the fall of 2022, the Huntington Station store is a bit larger than Northport, but still on the smallish side. You can see pictures of both the present location and the old Northport store, below. 

Originally opened in 2011, Record Reserve, like many independent record stores, has moved around a bit, both in various locations in Northport, in nearby Kings Park, and now Huntington Station. 

The store is run by Tim Clair, a nice guy (most record store owners are) who doesn’t do this for the money.  Who can’t love a Mets fan?

The store offers used records in a variety of genres, from ’60s, to Punk to Jazz to Rock to soul to country, reasonably priced, neatly packed in its smallish space.  It also has 45s, cds and 8 Tracks, and when I visited several times in 2023, a listening station as well. Don’t remember if it still has try before you buy when I went in 2025, but Tim will play it for you if you ask (nicely that is).

In a twist for this writer, at his Northport store, he took pictures of his customers, which he posted on his Instagram account.  For me, its usually the other way ’round.  He also posts his latest offerings.

Northport (where the store was located) is one of my favorite Long Island towns, because its still relatively inaccessible.  No access via a major highway – it still hasn’t been overly developed.  It has a great park on the harbor, a great bakery (Copenhagen), a great brewery (Sand City), a great local Theatre, Marone’s, great art galleries, a great candy shop, (you get the idea …)  Great for a summer visit. It was nice to see a record store back in Northport – Permanent used to be on Main Street back in the day. Maybe another one will take their place.

Wanna go?  You can find Record Reserve on our Record Stores Map.

Record Reserve – Huntington Station

Record Reserve – Northport

Here are pictures of the store when it was located in Northport.

What the Press is Saying

Here’s a podcast from the Heavy Hole from Record Store Day in April 2019, interviewing Tim Clair about himself (he’s also a musician), his store(s) and their history.

In June 2017, TBR Media published this piece, A modern day renaissance for two Smithtown record shops interviewing both Tim Clair about his shop, then in Kings Park, as well as Stu Goldberg and his son about Mr. Cheapos.

And here’s a video tour of the store which will give you more of an idea of what the store has to offer.  The tour of the store starts at the 57 second mark, if you’re in a hurry.

 

Cool Vinyl Bought There

Always had good luck in their New Arrivals bins.  On one trip, I purchased the Flamin’ Groovies – Now!  A ’60s band from the ’70s, the Groovies wear their influences well – Byrds, Beatles, and most of all, the Rolling Stones.  On this one, the band sounds great, and are doing a bunch of covers.  Here’s one of my favorites, a cover of the Byrds Feel A Whole Lot Better

More recently, I got a great Rolling Stones’ boot – The Greatest Group on Earth. From 1969, this is from a live show held on November 9, 1969 at the Oakland Colisseum and has many of my personal Stones’ favorites – Gimme Shelter, Sympathy for the Devil, and Midnight Rambler. It was also from the time ace guitar player Mick Taylor was in the group. But it doesn’t say Rolling Stones on the record or label. You just have to know. It’s a great live show you can find on YouTube.

But best of all was my purchase of the first US press of the Stone Temple Pilots – Tiny Music …. Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. On the tri-color Atlantic label. With insert. From 1996, this was from the era when interest in vinyl had waned, and pressings of new releases on vinyl were limited and hard to come by. Unlike most of Tim’s usual inventory, this is a real collector’s item. He set a very reasonable, fair price, and I happily took it home.

Lots of really good songs to choose from, I’ll go with Big Bang Baby. This was the first of three singles released from the album in 1996, each of which made it to the charts and each of which are routinely found on best of songs lists for the Stone Temple Pilots. The other two singles are Lady Picture Show and Trippin’ On A Hole in a Paper Heart. Both also excellent.

This was the band’s third album, and marked a departure from their earlier grunge heavy sound, incorporating psychedelia, and glam rock, among other elements, into their sound. Big Bang Baby is driven by a heavy guitar riff, which doesn’t leave your head, and the melodic chorus sung by the late Scott Weiland. Certainly one of their best.