Secondhand Record Shop Near Me in Hackney Wick: Rook Records

Rook Records only opens four days a week, Wednesday to Saturday from 12 to 7 pm, so timing matters more here than at any other secondhand record shop near me in east London. The shop sits in 9b Riverbank House, 455 Wick Lane, London E3 2TB, on the canal side of Hackney Wick. It specialises in second-hand imports, with a deep run of US and Japanese pressings across jazz, soul, disco, house, rock, reggae and hip hop.

Rook started in 2016 as an online shop, building a reputation among DJs for clean copies of records that rarely surface in British bins. In 2023 it opened its doors to the public for the first time, in a unit inside Riverbank House on Wick Lane. That history explains the feel of the room: stock is graded and priced the way a careful mail-order seller does it, with condition written on every sleeve.

The team also runs Rook Radio, launched in 2018, a channel of filmed DJ sets where guests are encouraged to play freely across genres. Monthly in-store sessions bring guest selectors into the shop itself. Those sessions are the best chance to hear how the stock sounds on a proper system, and to meet the DJs and collectors who supply and buy the Brazilian, Japanese and American pressings.

The distinctive thing about Rook is the import stock. Japanese pressings of jazz and soul albums, with their obi strips and heavy card sleeves, sit next to American originals that most London shops only see as reissues. The shop has written about a visiting Amsterdam DJ, Palo Santo Discos, arriving with a bag of Brazilian 45s, which gives a sense of how the stock moves through collector circles.

If you collect seriously, start with the jazz and soul sections, where the condition grading is most useful. If you play out, the house and disco crates hold 12-inch singles alongside the shop's own edits series. Hip hop and reggae are smaller but well chosen. The shop is not the place for chart pop or classic rock bargain boxes; it is built for people who know which pressing they are hunting.

Rook's online listings show the price spread you will meet in the shop. A Marvin Gaye I Want You reissue in Very Good Plus condition was listed at £40, a Cecil Taylor Quintet Stereo Drive LP at £80, and Dick Griffin's spiritual jazz album The Eighth Wonder at £175. At the top end, a Jeff Floyd soul 7-inch, Best Of Friends backed with Don't Leave Me, was listed at £1,400.

For DJs on a budget, the shop's own Rook Edits 12-inch, the DJ Swerve volume 003, was listed at £16, which is new-release money rather than collector money. The honest verdict is that Rook is not cheap, and anyone hoping for a pile of £3 records should go elsewhere. What you pay for is accurate grading and pressings that would otherwise mean an overseas order with postage and import charges.

Rook's posted hours are Monday closed, Tuesday closed, Wednesday 12 to 7 pm, Thursday 12 to 7 pm, Friday 12 to 7 pm, Saturday 12 to 7 pm and Sunday closed. That rules out the weekend brunch crowd that fills Hackney Wick on Sundays, and it means a Monday or Tuesday trip is wasted. Wednesday and Thursday afternoons are the calmest time to work through the jazz racks without someone at your elbow.

New stock is announced through the shop's social channels, and the best records from a fresh collection tend to go within days. If a drop goes up on a Thursday, aim to arrive close to noon on Friday rather than waiting until Saturday afternoon. In-store DJ sessions make Saturdays livelier but more crowded; come on a different day if you want room to listen properly.

Every record carries a written grade, such as VG or VG Plus, so read the sleeve sticker before pulling the disc out. When you do inspect vinyl, hold it by the edges and the label, and put it back in its inner sleeve facing the same way. Staff are used to collectors asking about matrix numbers and pressing plants, so it is fine to ask which version you are holding.

Ask before playing anything expensive, and keep listening short when the counter is busy. Imports, jazz, soul and dance records interest the buyers most; mass-market rock and pop collections are a harder sell here.

Wick Lane runs beside the Lee Navigation, so after shopping you can drop onto the towpath and walk north toward Hackney Wick's warehouse cafes and breweries, or south toward Fish Island and the canal junction. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is on the far bank, a pleasant loop on a dry afternoon. Hackney Wick Overground station is the nearest rail stop and the simplest way back into central London.

If Rook is closed, or you want a wider general stock at lower prices, Kristina Records on Well Street in Hackney is a short bus ride north, though its early-week afternoons end at 3 pm. For a full day of digging, carry on west to Flashback Records on Essex Road in Islington, where the basement holds thousands of used LPs across rock, soul and jazz.

Rook Records is at 9b Riverbank House, 455 Wick Lane, London E3 2TB. Opening hours are Wednesday to Saturday, 12 to 7 pm; the shop is closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The online shop offers free UK shipping on orders over £50, which helps if a record you saw in person sells before your next visit.

Come here with a want list and a budget, especially for Japanese and American jazz, soul and disco pressings. Bring a tote that fits 12-inch sleeves flat, because the walk to the Overground runs along the towpath and over uneven ground. Casual browsers will still enjoy the room, but the shop rewards people who already know the records they want.