Entry No. 77 — the New Orleans file — filed under: records
Peaches Records
Peaches was once a 50-store national chain with 2,000 employees and superstores the size of grocery stores, until the whole thing filed Chapter 11 in June 1981 owing about $20 million. New Orleans is the location that never died — eight of them operated here before the bankruptcy, and this one is still going under the same slogan it has used for decades, 'Pick of the Crop Since 1975.' It now sits Uptown at Magazine and Napoleon, between Ms. Mae's and Nirvana, across from the basketball court, and the store leans its whole identity on local music: the current banner reads '50 Years of the Music of New Orleans.' Touring bands still stop in — the Black Keys did an in-store album signing here — and the counter also handles buying collections by appointment.
→ Three more vintage, record & maker shops in New Orleans — never the same twice
The story
Peaches was a Los Angeles company before it was a New Orleans one. Tom Heiman opened the first store on Hollywood Boulevard in 1975; the chain became a subsidiary of Nehi Record Distributing and peaked at 50 stores across 22 cities with more than 2,000 employees, some the size of a supermarket, selling records from wooden crates printed with the fruit-crate logo. In June 1981 it filed for Chapter 11, citing $20 million owed by 35 stores to Citibank and six record distributors. Eight Peaches were operating in New Orleans when the company went down. One of them is still here, and it is the last one anywhere.
It survived because of Shirani Rea. The store she ran on Gentilly Boulevard was small enough to be cooled by one window air-conditioning unit and packed to the seams with tapes, vinyl and band posters. She employed local artists — a young Mia X worked there, as did Loren Phillips, who edited and published Da R.U.D.E., the city's first hip-hop magazine, in the 1990s — and she backed Cash Money Records early, hosting release parties in the Gentilly shop and helping the fledgling label through the Universal distribution deal that made it. The fifth NOLA Hip-Hop Awards honored her for it.
The store now holds a corner Uptown at Magazine and Napoleon, between Ms. Mae's and Nirvana, across from the basketball court, in a building that used to be a Woolworth's; Gambit's 2016 write-up found the 1940s lunch counter still in place and the store raising money to buy it and reopen it. The floor is 15,000 square feet of CDs, vinyl and Peaches-logo merchandise, and the identity is entirely local: the banner reads “50 Years of the Music of New Orleans,” and independent artists can leave a record on consignment. Gambit voted it the best locally owned music store in 2016 and again in 2024.
What it's like
You arrive at a corner rather than a doorway in a row — Magazine at Napoleon, a bar on one side, a basketball court across the street — and the room inside is far larger than a record shop has any business being. The scale changes how the visit runs: nothing is crammed, you can work the New Orleans section without touching anyone's elbow, and an hour of browsing reads as normal rather than conspicuous. Staff will pull things for you if you ask and leave you alone if you don't, and it is a shop rather than a shrine, so no need to whisper. The exception is signing days — the Black Keys did one here — which are announced ahead and put a line out the door; for a quiet dig, go on a weekday morning.
The move: Walk in around 5pm, split up, and each pick one New Orleans record for the other person — one has to be something neither of you has heard of. Pay, then go two doors down to Ms. Mae's for the cheapest drink in the neighborhood and argue about who chose better.
📍 Before you go Open Monday–Saturday 10am–7pm and Sunday 10am–5pm; closed Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day and Mardi Gras Day. Phone (504) 282-3322. If you're bringing records to sell, call first — they schedule that by appointment rather than taking walk-ins at the counter. In-store signings are announced ahead of time and draw a line, so check before showing up expecting a quiet browse.
- 📍 New Orleans
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 4318 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Miss Claudia's Vintage Clothing & Costumes — One block down Magazine at 4204, which makes the pair a single stop: records at one end, wigs and vintage at the other, no car move required.
- Hansen's Sno-Bliz — Under a mile toward the river on Tchoupitoulas, and the right reward for an hour in the racks — ice shaved on a 1939 machine while you read the liner notes.
- Prytania Theatre Midnight Movies — A mile up Prytania and the obvious contrast: Peaches shuts at 7pm, and the Prytania is still going at midnight with a live shadowcast.
More weird in New Orleans
Good to know
What are the hours, and are there days it is shut?
Monday through Saturday 10am–7pm, Sunday 10am–5pm. It closes on Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day and Mardi Gras Day — that last one catches visitors out, since Carnival is exactly when people assume every shop in town is open.
I have a collection to sell. How does that work?
By appointment only — call (504) 282-3322 in advance, and the buyer is typically available Monday to Thursday, 10am–3pm. One seasonal quirk worth knowing: the store does not purchase used music in the summer, so a July trip with a crate in the trunk is a wasted one. Inventory the records and note the condition of vinyl, sleeve and cover before you call.
Where is it, and can I combine it with anything on foot?
4318 Magazine Street at Napoleon Avenue, Uptown — street parking on Magazine and the residential side streets. Miss Claudia's Vintage is one block down at 4204, so park once and do both; Ms. Mae's is immediately next door.
I'm an independent musician. Will they stock me?
That is an explicit part of the business — the store runs a simple consignment process and asks local artists to come in person with music, art or books, and will talk through ways to market the release. Turning up with a box and no conversation is the wrong approach.
Can I order something that isn't in the racks?
Yes. Call (504) 282-3322 or email [email protected] to place an order or ask about stock, and they ship nationally and internationally — useful if you find the record after you have flown home.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia
last checked: 2026-08-26