Third Man Records

The color scheme got us before anything else did. You walk in off Canfield and the room just announces itself, and then you notice you’re standing in a record store — Third Man releases up front, plus a shelf of like-minded indie labels. Go a little further back and there’s a built-in stage, which from what we understand hosts bands on occasion. Keep going down the hall past it and you arrive at a viewing area looking straight into the pressing plant, where the records on the shelves out front are actually made. There’s also a bathroom in that hallway, which sounds like a small thing until you’ve been in the car exploring the city all day.

We came in for Jack White’s Frozen Charlotte on a limited blue vinyl and walked out with a free poster they tossed in with the purchase. This was a revisit — we’d been before, and we’ve left with a hoodie one time and a coffee mug another — so consider this an honest assessment from people who keep handing them money. Beyond the records there’s a deep bench of Jack White-adjacent merch: White Stripes tees, mugs, pint glasses, magnets, stickers, branded drumsticks, and a case of guitar pedals we admired without inspecting too closely.

Park once and work the block — Shinola and Carhartt are right here, Robyn is a few doors down, City Bird and Nest sit across the street. It’s one of the most rewarding stretches in Detroit, and it pairs neatly with Jack White’s childhood home if you’re building a day around him.