CHAMPAIGN – Local record stores are reporting brisk sales of Michael Jackson and Jackson Five CDs, albums and DVDs since the pop-star's untimely death on June 25.

Most shops are out of Jackson-related products or have managed to get their stock replenished, if their distributor has any.

Jeff Brandt, owner of the pop-culture shop Exile on Main Street in Champaign, said he immediately contacted his distributor soon after Jackson's unexpected death. Every single Jackson album was on back order.

"The manufacturers are scrambling to print as many copies as possible," Brandt said. Earlier this week, he managed to get two copies of the 25th anniversary vinyl album of "Thriller," Jackson's biggest hit and the top-selling album of all time.

John Sullivan, store manager of Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Champaign, said his store quickly sold out of Jackson and Jackson Five CDs and DVDs after news of the musician's death spread; the store has since replenished its stock.

Likewise, Borders Books, Movies & Cafe, also in north Champaign, quickly sold out of Jackson products but has not yet been able to replace the stock because its distributor does not yet have any, a spokesman said.

Record Swap, which carries mainly used vinyl albums and CDs, quickly sold out of vinyl copies of Jackson and Jackson Five music soon after Jackson's death, said owner Bob Diener.

"People, at least here, want the records instead of the CDs," he said. "We sold out of vinyl but we still have some CDs. We're out of Jackson and Jackson Five vinyl unless I can go through my storage unit and find more."

Diener, whose shop is on East University Avenue in Champaign, said he's lived through the death of other mega-music stars, among them John Lennon, and the resulting spikes in their record sales.

"I don't get too excited," he said. "It's kind of a weird thing. If you're such a big Michael Jackson fan, you should have most of his stuff anyway."

At least one customer told Diener that as soon as she had heard that Jackson died, she put her Jackson albums on eBay, asking $100 for each of them.

"I believe in karma," Diener said. "They always accuse record-store people of doubling the prices when somebody dies. I don't do that because it'll come back on me."

Brandt said he read that if Jackson's older albums were eligible for the Billboard pop-music charts they would be topping them.

The Associated Press reported that the Nielsen SoundScan says that Jackson album sales have exploded nationwide and three of his albums are in the top three spots. And, since his death, 2.3 million Jackson tracks have been downloaded in the United States.

Nielsen SoundScan also reported that Jackson album sales for the week through Sunday hit 422,000 in the U.S., up from 10,000 a week earlier. The week's tally was greater than all the Jackson albums sold from the start of the year to June 21.

The three top-selling Jackson albums, since his untimely death, were "Number Ones," "Essential Michael Jackson" and "Thriller." Coming in fourth was The Black Eyed Peas' latest CD.