Welcome
to Parasol Mail Order! Parasol
Mail Order is the mainstay of our business. We started selling
music to likeminded
collectors in 1990 and, although we’ve grown in many
different directions over the years, we have continued to make
selling
music to individual customers the primary focus of our business.
Although the Front Page of Parasol.com
is also the default page for our Mail Order Shop, by visiting
this section of the web
site you can link above to some of the shop’s other useful
web pages.
Parasol Mail Order endeavors to provide customers with an excellent
overview of the underground music scene merging both indie credibility
and commercial sensibility. In addition to selling and promoting
the releases on our own in-house
labels, you’ll find that
we stock a vast number of independent releases ranging from
self-released CDs and start-up labels to widely regarded stalwarts
such as
Matador, Touch And Go, Sub Pop, Merge, Teenbeat, and Drag City
and a hand-picked selection of major label releases by current
trendsetters and press darlings, longtime Parasol favorites,
and former independent bands that have moved on to the big
leagues.
We are proud not to have too narrow a musical focus, so we
can satisfy a number of different tastes. We stock music from
a variety
of genres with the hope of providing what Rolling Stone has
hailed as “all things pop, from Stockholm to Sacramento” when
citing us as one of the best on-line record stores in the country.
While this statement neatly sums up the Parasol experience, you
will find that our definition of “pop” is pleasingly
broad in scope. Our goal is to carry the cream of the crop
of the many new releases offered week-in and week-out.
Parasol Mail Order prides itself on our fast, friendly service
and affordable pricing. We have a knowledgeable staff that
invites you to phone us directly at 217-344-8609 to answer
any questions
you might have about ordering or to recommend various records
based upon your past preferences. In the electronic age, it’s
easy to forget that sometimes the best information is exchanged
through personal interaction. Do not hesitate to call!
Parasol Mail Order also welcomes walk-in customers to visit
our shop in downtown Urbana. Heck, we're the last real record
store in Champaign-Urbana.
Our address is 303 West Griggs St.
which is one block north and one block west of The Courier
Cafe.
Our
store hours are:
9:00 AM – 7:00 PM on Monday – Friday
12:00 PM – 5:00 PM on Saturday
Click here for a map
Other features to improve your search for new music at
Parasol can be accessed in the links above:
· Personal Picks let you see what releases we Parasolarians are
listening to and recommending to others from week to week.
· Top
Sellers serves a similar purpose as Personal Picks as
it lets you see what your fellow Parasol Mail Order customers
are giving their current seal of approval.
· Specials will connect you to the Parasol Bargain Bin where you
will find many titles drastically reduced in price.
In
addition to these links, you’ll also find useful
links above about ordering, shipping, etc.
- Personal
Picks let you see what releases we Parasolarians are listening
to and recommending to others from week to
week.
- Top
Sellers serves a similar purpose as Personal Picks as it
lets you see what your fellow Parasol Mail Order customers
are giving their current seal of approval.
- Specials will connect you to the Parasol Bargain Bin where you will
find many titles drastically reduced in price.
Thanks
so much for choosing Parasol Mail Order when making the decision
to purchase music. We greatly appreciate the support
you’ve given us through the years and look forward to
helping more interested music fans delve below the surface
for many years to come. Before you leave here, please join
our mailing list through which we can provide you with the
most up-to-date New Release listings and Special Offers via
e-mail each week.
Thanks + enjoy,
The Parasolarians
Parasol's Declaration of Independence
The Parasol front-page serves to highlight our favorite releases.
Although many music retailers - from the big guys to the small
fries -have found that selling product positioning on store
shelves, on-line shops, e-mail marketing messages, and listening
stations is a lucrative money generator, no money has been
exchanged between Parasol and the bands or labels involved
for this consideration.
Our featured releases are profiled because of the impact they've
made upon our ears, hearts and minds - not because of a desire
to improve our advertising revenue. For us, this is still
a labor of love, not money. Rest assured that if we tell you
we love a particular record, that it is a genuine recommendation
for a fan, not a sales pitch that has been sold to the highest
bidder.
Furthermore, we are not members of the RIAA (Recording Industry
Association of America) or any buying coalitions. We are not
beholden to any outside interests, but are bound solely to
our valued customers, our personal tastes, and an addictive
yearning to find new music.
Parasol
Purity. Payola free since 1991. No additives. More real cheese
flavor.
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