Penny Lane Records of Westwood Village, R.I.P. You served the UCLA population admirably and will be missed, but truth be told, you hadn’t resembled your true self in years. Since moving from that traincar space on Gayley to a larger storefront on a less-trafficked east-west street, you hung on to retail life in an undignified coma, reduced to peddling porn rentals in a back room to maintain a pulse at the till. But before dwelling on the sad later years, let me look back to your glory days.
In the early 90’s, there were 3 record stores in Westwood Village for the student shopper: Tower Records, in a 3-story space on Westwood Blvd; The Wherehouse, first housed at the landmark Janss’ dome building (now Eurochow), then over at the space that is now Urban Outfitters; and finally, there you were, Penny Lane, in a plum spot on Gayley alongside Village institiutions Lamonica’s and Mongol’s. Out of this trio of options, it was easy for you to stand out as the student friendly alternative choice. After all, you had the novelty of a vinyl LP section and, more importantly, you bought and sold used CDs.
Your used bin became a favorite recycling depot for the local industry and new releases turned up early, often and discounted. Your used inventory was pared down to the essentials, an assortment not as vast as Aron’s, not as haphazard as Rhino’s–just the right size for a quick regular check in. Lazy Friday afternoons without classes were dawdled away there. We placed our meager offerings upon your alter of used CD buyback for the valued store credit. You usually rejected 90% of anything we brought in and shamefully we took back the rejects of our uncool high school tastes. In consolation, you regularly let us have some free promo posters to take back to the drab dorms.
Before you even ask: Yes, it’s Food Friday. 
Shack Time. The Original Marty’s. The 
Back to my review. I’ve seen people at this shack. It’s got the Vienna Beef signage ubiquitous on taverns in Chicago (usually paired with Old Style Beer signage, but this is after all a sidewalk shack and presumably alcohol-free).
