Tower Records

[Tom 1960]

Firstly, I find it sad that Tower looks to be headed towards liquidation. Nothing to me including the internet, replaces the excitement of going through the bins and looking at the many different selections. You see, in my area with very few exceptions, music stores basically stock the same crap. If you're interested in music outside the major releases, forget about it. Slim pickens to say the least. I've always looked forward to traveling to Tower. The place always made me feel like a kid in a candy store. I could easily spend 2 hrs. there. I'm gonna miss that experience. I know some of you guys may feel differently, since many of you live in or close by major cities. Maybe it's not that big of a deal, since you have many more alternatives. I don't really. It's pretty much the internet for me these days. It's just not the same experience.

[Eric]

Firstly, I find it sad that Tower looks to be headed towards liquidation. Nothing to me including the internet, replaces the excitement of going through the bins and looking at the many different selections. You see, in my area with very few exceptions, music stores basically stock the same crap. If you're interested in music outside the major releases, forget about it. Slim pickens to say the least. I've always looked forward to traveling to Tower. The place always made me feel like a kid in a candy store. I could easily spend 2 hrs. there. I'm gonna miss that experience. I know some of you guys may feel differently, since many of you live in or close by major cities. Maybe it's not that big of a deal, since you have many more alternatives. I don't really. It's pretty much the internet for me these days. It's just not the same experience.

I agree, although frankly it has been a number of years since even Tower provided that experience.

[Tom 1960]

I hear ya Eric. Judging by the responses here, Tower was(is?) just a shadow of it's former self. Still to me, that was awhole heck of alot better than the alternatives I have. Things are pretty pathetic in my neck of the woods.

[bertrand]

I agree with the above posts - going to Tower used to be an amazing experience that the internet could not duplicate. However, that was years ago, back when they would have tons of TOCJ and you could buy them at reasonable prices during the clearance sale.

Just called the Rockville, MD, Tower - what they know so far is that the smaller, less profitable stores are closing. The sale starting today is 30% off on CDs (and DVDs I guess), so it's like a clearnace sale. When the Tower in Annapolis closed, it was everything half-price. By the time I got there, they were cleaned out.

Bertrand.

Edited October 7, 2006 by bertrand

[Eric]

I agree with the above posts - going to Tower used to be an amazing experience that the internet could not duplicate. However, that was years ago, back when they would have tons of TOCJ and you could buy them at reasonable prices during the clearance sale.

Just called the Rockville, MD, Tower - what they know so far is that the smaller, less profitable stores are closing. The sale starting today is 30% off on CDs (and DVDs I guess), so it's like a clearnace sale. When the Tower in Annapolis closed, it was everything half-price. By the time I got there, they were cleaned out.

Bertrand.

Yes Bertrand, I remember going to Tower in the Village in the mid-90s on business trips and dropping one or two hundred each time (hauling away many TOCJs). Same for the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago and Jazz Record Center in NY. And Amoeba & Rasputin in Berkeley. Fortunatley these large independents are still with us (I think). Ironically (and wonderfully), they seem to be the winners in all of this, plus the used record stores (although they too are becoming scarce).

On the flip side, between Amazon, Gemm & ebay, there is almost nothing I cannot find in a matter of minutes (if you want to pay the price). But I completely agree that the experience is nowhere near the "off line" version.

PS - I cannot remember the last time I visited a KC record store - maybe early in the summer. Aside from a great used store in nearby Lawrence, there is nothing here of interest (in a 1.5 million metro area with a decent jazz background).

Edited October 7, 2006 by Eric

[Stefan Wood]

I was there for Tower's grand opening on 4th and Broadway, many years ago. When I was in grad school in NYC, I would go to the outlet store a block away on Saturday mornings. I loved that store. It has been years since Tower was a must shop store though. I am sorry to see them go, but it has been cheaper to get stuff online. Bertrand, if any store is going to close I bet it would be the one in DC, near GW. They have cut down on their stock so much it is barely a music store anymore. That was the flagship store in the DC area.

[7/4]

Still, Mode discs are at $18.98 - same with most new ECMs...

yr a Mode man, Rotasi? why haven't we met before, hmmmmmm...

Wouldn't it make more sense to get 'em direct?

I have a bunch of Mode recordings, mostly of the Xenakis, Feldman, Cage, NewBand type.

I already miss the old Tower, when it was so well stocked. Those were the days.

[rostasi]

Wouldn't it make more sense to get 'em direct?

Yup, I've got over a hundred of them - including the early LPs.

Brian's got em for a good price, but that's my point really.

[rostasi]

farewell, farewell

Yup, I think that "our" era of shoppin' and swappin' tales

inside the store is pretty much over. Halcyon days.

I don't see the same enthusiasm in the smaller stores.

Maybe we need a return to the old Cabaret Voltaire days of

sharing the good music (those days: literature) of our modern glitchiness?

[ejp626]

From what I have heard, all Tower Record stores everywhere will be liquidated, which seems kind of crazy. I really think the Manhattan and SF stores in particular could survive, and perhaps they will be converted to some other record chain. But like most people here, I found them too expensive with too few sales to justify going in on a regular basis (and the Chicago stores were never really anything to write home about).

[7/4]

Wouldn't it make more sense to get 'em direct?

Yup, I've got over a hundred of them - including the early LPs.

Brian's got em for a good price, but that's my point really.

You're a mad man Rod!

[Tom 1960]

I was thinking of driving to the Paramus, New Jersey store on Monday being Columbus Day and a holiday for me and checking things out. Does anyone know if the 30% sale Bertrand mentions, good at all Tower stores? Perhaps a phone call might be warranted before heading out for the 1hr+ drive down.

Edited October 8, 2006 by Tom 1960

[rostasi]

How much the Cage Edition do you have, Rostasi?

Every one of them! - including the LPs - 35 volumes now (Anyone that knows me expects this - )

They are always the primary Mode purchase - Feldman, the secondary.

Hard to pick faves - especially for people I don't really know - well, you know what I mean...

The MD&Gs I bought kinda out of duty, but I'm less than pleased with the versions.

Rod

Edited October 7, 2006 by rostasi

[rostasi]

You're a mad man Rod!

Yes, I've come to that same conclusion many times.

Usually, just a look around here confirms that.

[Adam]

According to teh LA Times, they are all going bye bye, even Tower Sunset.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-towe...-home-headlines

Tower Records to Sell Off Inventory

Liquidation specialist Great American Group, which bought the bankrupt music retailer for $134.3million, plans to close all 89 stores.

By Alana Semuels, Times Staff Writer

October 7, 2006

The new owner of Tower Records will begin liquidating the music retailer's 89 stores beginning today, just hours after a 29-hour-long bidding war.

"We're going to have discounts for consumers to enjoy as they've never been seen before in the history of Tower Records," said Andy Gumaer, president of Great American Group, a Los Angeles-based firm that won the auction and plans to liquidate the company.

Great American, which specializes in liquidation, paid $134.3 million for Tower — $500,000 more than the bid by runner up Trans World Entertainment, which had hoped to keep some stores open. The bidding started Thursday morning and lasted through the night. The offer was approved Friday by a judge in Wilmington, Del.

Tower store managers who were contacted Friday had not been informed of the liquidation sale. "Really?" said one staff member answering the phone at Tower's flagship store on the Sunset Strip. "I had no idea."

Calls to Tower's corporate offices were not returned.

Great American Group is deploying representatives to Tower's 89 stores to facilitate the liquidation, which is expected to last about six weeks, said Gumaer, who used to shop at Tower. "It's sad to see a dynasty like Tower be liquidated," he said. "It's emotional for all of us."

The chain has been struggling for years. It filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in 2004, recovered, and then filed again in August 2006. At least three major music companies stopped shipping CDs to the chain in August, saying the retailer had not paid its bills. Tower owes creditors about $210 million.

Founded in Sacramento in 1960 by Russ Solomon, Tower isn't the first beloved music store to close: Others such as Camelot Music, Musicland and Strawberries have closed as shoppers migrated to the Internet or to discount stores. Retail music sales fell 17% from 2000 to 2005, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America.

But Tower's demise is not a death knell for traditional ways of buying music: More than half of album purchases are from retail outlets, said Geoff Mayfield, an analyst at Billboard. "That would be an obituary that is too early to write."

[7/4]

You're a mad man Rod!

Yes, I've come to that same conclusion many times.

Usually, just a look around here confirms that.

I've been there too.

[Patrick]

Swung by the Tyson's Corner shop Saturday afternoon while out running other errands. No evidence of anything getting liquidated yet. Looked around a bit at the high prices [eg $13 for BN RVGs] wondering if 30% will be enough to get my interest. Made a note of a title or two I would return for if deals improve substantially. This vulture ain't swoopin' in yet.

[homer9600]

I had to drive to Westchester to visit my mom and I decided to cross the Tappen Zee to Nanuet. I drove past Tower and sure enough there were signs in the window stating "This store is closing," and "Everything on sale."

I couldn't bring myself to go in. I know you can buy music cheaper online than at Tower - and I do but for me there was an entire ritual surrounding a trip to Tower.

I shopped at five Towers: Paramus, Nanuet, Yonkers (which closed in 2004) and Stamford (and occasionally Broadway and 4th during my now rare teips into the city).

They all had a slightly diffrent mix in their jazz and vocal sections. They were always special trips for me. As much as I like the ease of shopping online, I just love going in an actual store and discovering things. That happened a lot for me at at Tower especially before I discovered groups like this and got the heads up on what's coming out.

I'm aware that Tower is not what it was ten, fifteen, twenty years ago, but when I started getting back into Jazz it was always there for me and it was miles ahead of any other record store at least in my neck of the woods which is populated by mini FYE's Sam Goody's, Strawberries and other chains.

The ritual was I would get in my car and take a drive to Tower which for me involved a couple of hours. This was my way of chilling especially during stressful times. My favorite was Saturday afternoon trips to Stamford. I would drive through a number of small New York and Connecticut small towns, drive back roads and play music in the car. It was always the same; I'd get to Stamford off the Merritt stop at the doughnut shop across from Tower, get a crueller and a cup of coffee and then go shopping. On the way back I would take a different route and go through rural northern Westchester towns.

Sometimes I would bring home eight or ten CD's sometimes only one. But never did I not find something that I wanted.

The saddest thing for me is that I have no reason to make the trip to Stamford anymore.

Life goes on, habits and preferences change, Tower will go and I will adjust. It was nice while it lasted.

[Guest akanalog]

when i was in college in providence i would drive up to boston to go to the tower up there every now and then. always came home with a bunch of interesting stuff. lots of collectors choice BN and ECM discs, great import section too.

Edited October 8, 2006 by akanalog

[kh1958]

The Dallas Tower has already commenced its liquidation sale. However, at this point it is a very modest sale--only 10% off of CDs and DVDs.

[rostasi]

I went to the nearby Barnes & Nobel for an Altarus label Sorabji cd Tower was outta stock on... can you imagine a Sorabji cd in B&N today? (this was c. '95, when I was in NW Jersey recording w/my then mistress, later first AND third ex-wife.) 'tis a sad day in music retail--

sidenote to Ro(s)tasi-- what did you not like about Schleiermacher's Cage? too slow &/or serious?

etudes australes clementine

Well, I applaud the fact that he made the grand attempt,

but it deviates from the scores too much of the time - segments that aren't articulated correctly.

Kinda like the Sorabji Opus Clav that you allude to. It's good to have both the Madge and the Ogden

but the ultimate version (I hope) will be the Jonathan Powell.

Edited October 8, 2006 by rostasi

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

I REMEMBVER BACK IN THE EARLY 90S WHEN THIS TOWER OUTLET STORE WAS DOIN A CLOSING LIQUIDATION AND IT WAS THE FINAL DAYS. I FOUND A COPY OF WHISTLE STOP W/ A BROKEN CASE FOR 80% OFF- MY 1ST HANK CD (WELL CD "WITH" HANK)--- ANYWAYS, THE STORE WAS A MESS, SHIT WAS THROWN EVERY WHICH WAY ALL OVER THE PLACE- YOU COULD BASICALLY TAKE A CRAP-PILE TO THE COUNTER W/ YOU AND PAY FOR IT ALL W/ LIKE A 5.

[sidewinder]

The saddest thing for me is that I have no reason to make the trip to Stamford anymore.

Not even to call in at Mosaic Records?

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

oh ohohoh old lp returns from the 80s toO! this was a time when towers didnt have 'used lp' sectoins like they do today....they had a ton of em

[Big Wheel]

The Dallas Tower has already commenced its liquidation sale. However, at this point it is a very modest sale--only 10% off of CDs and DVDs.

Same thing at the store on Market in SF. I'll have to check the other SF stores next weekend (is the Stonestown one any good? How about the one down in Mountain View?)

Edited October 8, 2006 by Big Wheel