Tower Records goin' under? (1 Viewer)

[DanFe]

This won't affect the Tower Records stores in Japan. They are solely owned by the Japanese owners. They bought out Tower America years ago.

 

[Sean A]

I loved browsing in Tower, but to be honest, I rarely have bought anything there in the last few years. Their prices were just too high, and I knew I could get what I wanted cheaper, or wait until the CD Clubs got it. The Upper West Side store in NYC is a nice place, opened about 10 years ago (Fall 1996). I wonder who's going to take that spot over

 

[Will_B]

I can't say I cared for their decor, either. There were two stores around Boston/Cambridge that I'd go to, and they both had that Galaxy Quest shiny tile floor thing going on. Very uninviting.

But of course Boston had (still has?) the Newbury Comics chain to kick their ass. Maybe these closings will help that smaller chain hang on a bit longer.

 

[Henry Gale]

Tower Records

No events are currently scheduled in this state. Please check the state listing on the left for upcoming in-stores and events.

That goes for ALL the states. :frowning:

 

[Albert_M]

I just saw that my local one is closing and yeah, 10%... not worth it. I will check back often for bigger discounts. Even though they can't compete these days, I found decent deals at times and the inventory for catalog titles is.. well it's that or the pathetic mall stores or big box stores...

How is Virgin doing? Any chance, they might fill the void?

 

[ElevSkyMovie]

$18.99 for cds? No wonder they're going under. I hope the mall stores are next.

 

[JeremyErwin]

I guess you like listening to grungy car "audio" while searching for elusive classical sacds.

 

[ElevSkyMovie]

grungy car "audio"? Not sure what that means. I think a store can carry a large selection of all kinds of music without raping the customer. I suspect their high prices are mostly because of the desicions about where they place the stores.

 

[JeremyErwin]

The prototypical "It's 3 am and I'm trying to get some sleep kind". Best Buy's selection is terrible, and they aren't well organized. Maybe I'm biased because I live next to a Tower.

 

[Albert_M]

Maybe, I'm wrong, but I think it's a little misguided to blame the record stores for their costs. Best Buy and Co. simply use the music as means to get you in the door. Same with Wal Mart.

Perhaps if the labels set reasonable prices for cds, this wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Carl Miller]

There's no one to blame here. Tower thrived when music buyers valued large selections. Music buyers today, those who spend the most money on music anyway, don't value large selections because they don't have the same level of interest in music from the past as prior generations did...So a Best Buy will satisfy the needs of todays music buyers, and do it for less money out of the consumers pocket than Tower could.

Tower Records was never a retail outlet aimed at the average consumer of Top 100 music....They've been a remnant of a bygone era for a long long time already and it's amazing they even lasted this long.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

....because prices have gone up.

 

[ElevSkyMovie]

WalMart sells most of their cds for 13.99. That's not really a loss leader price to me. I suspect they are making money on cds. The first time I went to Best Buy in the early nineties, they had cds for 7-8 dollars. For me, the price point where I'll pay retail prices is below $10. I won't pay more than $10 for a retail cd unless I know it's a cd I'll never find used or at BMG music. I'm still waiting for a below $10 price on the new John Mayer. When I find one, I'll buy it. I haven't bought a cd from a mall or upscale store since high school in the late 80s. Maybe $20 cds was a sustainable market for Tower at one time, but with the internet around with unlimited selection and better prices, it's just a matter of time before Tower and all the stores like it are gone. I love big record shops, love to look around, but stores still have to compete.

 

[Phil A]

I watch for new CDs when then come out. The price is generally lower at places like Best Buy and Circuit City. John Mayer's new album was on sale at Circuit City for $9.99 and still is thru Oct. 14 per their 'weekly ad' section of the website. The thing I noted feels weird is that DVDs are cheaper too the week they come out and then over time get reduced when they are not current. I was in Costco last week and saw each of the individual 'Lord of the Rings' movies for $6.99. If you look at music that may have come out about the same time as 'Lord of the Rings' movies the price is regular, whether that is $13.99 as Wal-Mart or Best Buy and $18.99 at Tower. I'll generally get what I want when it 1st comes out and then wait and see if BMG gets it and has a sale.

 

[Carl Miller]

That's certainly one factor, but it's not the only factor. Music is marketed differently today, and todays 13-17 year old doesn't tend to give a hoot about music that was made 10 years earlier. They generally buy (either in stores or online) what is current and tend to only continually buy whatever is hot in the present day.

This is in contrast to young people of past generations when teenagers in the 1970's very often bought music that was made in the 1960's in addition to what was current. Same for young people in the 1980's who bought 1970's music. Young people used to look backwards in time and discover and buy older music, especially rock fans.

This doesn't happen today, and it's more a function of marketing and the record companies business model than it is the price of a CD.