So, I just went to Tower Records...

[Namenda]

...and discovered that they are being liquidated. All 89 stores in the chain...poof, gone. I talked to a couple of the guys working there, and they both seemed to be as shocked as I was, even though they've apparently been dealing with this for several days. It was surreal...seeing the long wall that is usually full of magazines, almost empty. The primary reason I went there was the great mag selection (no, not those kind of mags). Not to mention all the rare, hard to find music they had. Just kinda sucks, and it has affected me more than I would have expected.

Any other Tower customers disappointed by this?

[Scarr]

They lost my business years ago with the seemingly obligatory $10 markup on everything.

[randya]

Chain music stores suck.

[-=£em in Pa=-]

Im always sorry when a business goes out, but they never had
anything for me. No punk, no rarities.....
I hope the Tower people are able to be absorbed by other similar chains.

[Tom Stormcrowe]

Im always sorry when a business goes out, but they never had
anything for me. No punk, no rarities.....
I hope the Tower people are able to be absorbed by other similar chains.
So you're into Punk? Got any Zoog's Rift?

[-=£em in Pa=-]

Nah...No Zoogs Rift.
He looks like a G.G Allen type wack (good !!)
Im more into the '77 era sound and stuff of that type.
Im always looking for any Johnny Thunders, Dead Boys, Damned, Sex PisT0Ls etc
type bootlegs and rare, one-offs. Punk ended in 1980 so that sort of limits
the scope of collectability :p
Have anything ? :D

[caloso]

It was pretty big news here in Sactown, obviously.

[Brillig]

I haven't been in a record store since I doscovered CDNow about seven years ago. They're still around, huh?

[FatguyRacer]

They lost my business years ago with the seemingly obligatory $10 markup on everything.

+1

The Annapolis store closed during the summer. I wasnt surprised in the least. The prices they charged were really up there. Tower Records may be iconic in NYC, but in Annapolis, MD they were just an overpriced CD seller.

[kidcharlamagne]

Brillig I haven't been in a record store since I doscovered CDNow about seven years ago. They're still around, huh?

they got absorbed by Amazon awhile back.

[Brillig]

they got absorbed by Amazon awhile back.

I know. I meant are record stores still around.

[Cromulent]

I know. I meant are record stores still around.
Heh. What's a record store? Is that like iTunes, but in the real world?

[caloso]

The sad part for us in Sactown is that the original Tower was a lot more like a real local record store than a chain. People there actually listened to and cared about music of all genres and supported local acts. Sad.

[marqueemoon]

I will miss the classical and jazz selection. Seattle has great independent record stores but most of them don't devote much floor space to that stuff.

[liv_rong]

yes the jazz selection there is great, tons of things to buy. i was just there three times in the past two weeks, cd's are 40 percent off, hell yeah, magazines were 60 off, im happy that place is going out of business, thats good cause i got to buy a buch of stuff for a damn good price

[SaiKaiTai]

The first "real" record store I shopped at was Tower right here in San Francisco. I wasn't even old enough to drive, I made my parents take me. That was in 1968. Visiting the Tower in NYC was always a high point of my visits there. Sad to say, they stopped being relevant a loooong time ago. I'll still miss 'em. Another piece of my childhood, gone.

[georgiaboy]

Stores that sell digital media are being undercut by internet stores, use of the ipod/mp3 player, and the ability to make copies of music.

[randya]

There are still plenty of independent music stores in PDX. Now that Tower's gone, Everyday Music is the remaining national chain, and I won't shop there because they way overcharge. I generally shop the local indies for used vinyl and used CDs, and I buy new stuff online, also mostly from indies, because the local shops don't carry a lot of the music I like. I also don't buy as much music as I used to, I've more or less reached the saturation point.

[-=£em in Pa=-]

I just got back from Asheville, NC and was blown away by their
indie music stores ! I totally forgot how k3wL olde scool indie
was IRL !! :D

[Randomus]

The only time I ever went into Tower Records was when I was in a big city late at night... mainly to listen to music and play with things. I don't remember ever actually purchasing something from the store.

[jim-bob]

Punk ended in 1980 so that sort of limits
the scope of collectability :p
Have anything ? :D

1980? Crass told me punk was dead back in '78.

[randya]

1980? Crass told me punk was dead back in '78.
Iggy and the Stooges had done it all by 1969.

;)