See ya, Tower Records

steve21 · #1 10-09-2006, 10:28 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100900032.html

I've bought some of the CD's I actually own (Kreator & Billy Sheehan come to mind), but what really sucks to see go is the Ticketmaster (Even though they horribly horribly horribly overcharge).

One thing I tended to notice, though, aws Tower generally had some sucky prices on not-that-special CD's. Hopefully I can pick up some cool DVD's starting this weekend.

tplyons · #2 10-09-2006, 11:13 PM

Didn't see that one coming...

RWP · #3 10-25-2006, 06:04 AM

Wonder who will pick up the business tower does? Locally in Fairfax VA the only other CD source is Walmart

or Best Buys.

fenderx55 · #4 10-25-2006, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWP

Wonder who will pick up the business tower does? Locally in Fairfax VA the only other CD source is Walmart

or Best Buys.

Which is why we should have seen this coming. I've been popping in and out of the West 4th St location for 2 weeks; the DVDs still aren't all that cheap.

**MAJOR METAL** · #5 10-25-2006, 10:07 AM

I am waiting for clearence to start in my area.

JanusZarate · #6 10-25-2006, 10:41 AM

I heard about this a while back. All the Tower Records locations in the Bay Area already started clearance sales.

The south Sacramento location closed almost a year ago. It was my earliest hint of the end of Tower Records.

Don W · #7 10-25-2006, 11:24 AM

I checked out the Tower in my area this past weekend and they had everything 20% off. I was hoping to get a good deal on a couple box sets I had been eyeing there but they were gone already.

Folmeister · #8 10-25-2006, 11:42 AM

It's a shame. Tower Records was as much a fixture of my youth as Pacific Stereo. They are marking stuff down 20%-40%, but the real deals will only come when they are down to the stuff nobody really wants. Thankfully we have a local chain called Rasputin's to take up the slack. If it were not for that, Amazon would be my go-to supplier.

Foamy · #9 10-25-2006, 12:10 PM

Good riddance. I grew up hitch-hiking to Tower in Campbell, and there were some cool people there. 20 years later, it was just a bunch of fake punks playing obnoxious music as loud as possible - and then try and ask them for something like Pink Floyd and it was almost like the gag in the movies where the guy gets to the checkout with Kotex and the clerk calls for a price check over the loudspeaker. They were just going in the wrong direction.
Rasputin is OK. Dimple is decent. Tower's Classical section was really nice though - a separate room and almost a separate store.
But in the end, if you are not going to provide good service, then I'll just download it or get it off the Internet somewhere.

markjazzbassist · #10 10-25-2006, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchanter_Tim

But in the end, if you are not going to provide good service, then I'll just download it or get it off the Internet somewhere.

+1

i was never a big tower fan.

keb · #11 10-25-2006, 12:41 PM

I remember, back in the day, being able to find a few obscure things at the Tower in Austin. But yeah, the times have-a changed.

jumbosilverette · #12 10-25-2006, 01:37 PM

Went to the Sherman Oaks Tower last night with a $50 gift certificate. CD's are 20% off but it looked like all their merchandise had been retagged -- to full list. No bargains there. Too bad. Employess were acting as if they were already out of work.
Tower on the Sunset Strip used to be a GREAT store. Whenever anyone had a new LP, they did in store appearances. If you saw someone good at the Whisky, you just toddle on down to Tower and pick up the record. Goodbye to Tower. Now were just a little bit closer to everything being owned by one company.

ZombieGhosTrain · #13 10-25-2006, 03:29 PM

Tower was my go-to for cd's I couldn't find at Best Buy or wal-mart, which was most of them... Ticketmaster overcharges, but is still easier than on the internet, so that will be missed. Amazon here I come...

Don W · #14 10-25-2006, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Folmeister

Thankfully we have a local chain called Rasputin's to take up the slack. If it were not for that, Amazon would be my go-to supplier.

Amen to that. I try to make it to a Rasputin's at least once a month. Either the one in Pleasant Hill or the one in Newark, but it was nice to have a Tower close to save me a trip.

P. Aaron · #15 10-25-2006, 03:51 PM

Life is tough all over. But there are used CD stores.

davetakis · #16 10-25-2006, 03:56 PM

you guys need to start supporting the little independant shops, such as the one i work at. we are just as good as tower records in that we can give you the same items at a much lower price. tower records got, along with the rest of the big box retailers, very greedy. 20-25 for a cd?!?!?! come on. everything i sell is fully guaranteed and we also special order items too.

**SoComSurfing** · #17 10-25-2006, 05:11 PM

The French Quarter Tower was a pretty cool place to pick up the stuff you hear on the locally-owned New Orleans radio stations. I always spend at least an hour in there when I'm in NO. Just like Jumbo said about the Whiskey... if you saw someone good in Tipitina's you could just walk across the street and pick up the album. If it was the Howlin' Wolf or House of Blues, you were never more than a few blocks away.

Bottom Feeder · #18 10-25-2006, 05:36 PM

Lol. I remember Pacific Stereo as well. That and The Federated Group.

Tower used to be great and saw an actually musical performance by Robert Fripp in the late 70's at the Hollywood store. I took an empty record jacket off a display to get an autograph. He could tell what I had done and gave me a truly evil eye. He signed it though.

The Tower price became laughable. The staff there were probably stolen away from their McDonald's job. I would generally buy cd's at Best Buy or online. They were history with me years ago.

Munjibunga · #19 10-25-2006, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tplyons

Didn't see that one coming...

Really? They've been in Chapter 11 for at least a year.

The Owl · #20 10-25-2006, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jumbosilverette

Went to the Sherman Oaks Tower last night with a $50 gift certificate. CD's are 20% off but it looked like all their merchandise had been retagged -- to full list. No bargains there. Too bad. Employess were acting as if they were already out of work.
Tower on the Sunset Strip used to be a GREAT store. Whenever anyone had a new LP, they did in store appearances. If you saw someone good at the Whisky, you just toddle on down to Tower and pick up the record. Goodbye to Tower. Now were just a little bit closer to everything being owned by one company.

THose were my go-to places back when I lived in LA (along with Moby Disc). Here in Atlanta, the Tower is sure stingy with their markdowns. Can't say I'm gonna miss them though, they did it to themselves between the high prices, diminishing selection and hiring staff that couldn't have cared less, although I do remember a time when it was a lot different.