Spin over to Val's for a wealth of musical knowledge!

            Val Camilletti at the Elvis Shrine 

From eight tracks and cassette decks to digital downloads and satellite radio, the American recording industry has been in a constant state of flux for the past forty years. But, in the village of Oak Park Illinois, a little record store has remained viable for 37 years thanks to owner Val Camiletti’s love of music and larger-than-life personality. 

Since 1972, ,Val’s Halla was located on South Boulevard ---just steps away from the Oak Park Green Line. Due to her proximity to the El, Val’s served as an unofficial welcome center for visitors from every corner of the world. But, thanks to the relentless redevelopment so prevalent in Oak Park, Val’s had to shutter her iconic South Boulevard storefront in 2006 and made the move to 239 W. Harrison Street in the village’s burgeoning Arts District.

With a mass of musical treasures and a South Boulevard/Oak Park Avenue mindset, the move to Harrison Street wasn’t easy for the loquacious Camiletti who had been hoping to stay on the South Boulevard beat. Finally, after an extensive postcard writing campaign by Harrison Street merchants, Val made the move south. She also had an “epiphany” of sorts when she came to the realization that the Harrison Street location was directly west of the Austin neighborhood home that she grew up in.

Val modestly cites the secrets to her success as “getting old and hanging on” but her musical roots also play a large part in Val’s Halla’s longevity. While her love of music began at the tender age of five or six, she was lucky enough to land a job in the Capitol Record’s promotions department in 1962. Here in a “run down, paint-peeled, grungy small building on record row at 1326 South Michigan Avenue” she did everything from "convincing promo guys that the Beach Boys music would play in Chicago to mimeographing 16, 000 copies of the song “Sukiyaki” for WLS listeners." She was also on hand to distribute Beatles “Help” band-aids , provide wake up calls for a “baby faced kid” named Wayne Newton and promise Judy Garland she would get the records she had requested.

Val continues to procure vinyl for multi-generations of dedicated record lovers and notes that there is a “comeback for vinyl” with today’s teenagers who have realized that the sound of a real record is actually superior to songs downloaded from the internet. Plus, there is an added “social dimension” since music fans can actually hold the albums and educate themselves via album liner notes. Val specializes in special orders and both she and the knowledgeable staff are relentless in tracking down those hard-to-find record selections.

While much of the store’s appeal stems from Val’s musical background and vast collection of hard-to-find albums, 45s and other chestnuts, the “salon like” atmosphere at Val’s Halla is another difference that sets Val’s apart from mass merchandisers or internet downloads. On any given day, Val’s conversations can run the gamut from bemoaning the use of spell check to touting the attributes of an LP by Chicago native Oscar Brown Junior. 

Of course, no discussion of Val’s can be complete without reference to the “Elvis Shrine” at both locations. With an abandoned bathroom at the South Boulevard store begging for recognition, it seemed fitting to make the proverbial “throne”, a homage to the King because, “it was in the dreaded bathroom in Memphis where Elvis had fallen” When Val was preparing to move, many customers wondered if Elvis would be left out of the new building. But the loo at the new Harrison street location is jam-packed with Elvis memorabilia and ready to provide a “comforting respite for the weary musical traveler.”