Now that Tower Records stores around the country are selling off their wares, fans are trying to nab some good fire-sale discounts (“Ooh! This Keyshia Cole CD single is only $3.49!”). In L.A., though, there’s a very special type of fan browsing the aisles–the dickhead-collector type who likes to complain about everything:
“The first sign I saw that something was wrong with this picture was the sign an employee was holding up in the parking lot of the Buena Park Tower, as I pulled in on Saturday afternoon,” said Dave Schmerler, of Westminster. ” ‘Up to 30% off,’ it proclaimed. Already, my hopes for half-off, and then some, were dashed. And that pesky ‘up to’ had me worried.”
On learning that the initial discount for CDs and DVDs was 10%, Schmerler said, “I realized that, even with the 10% discount, I would be paying way more than Amoeba prices. I mean, the average disc price was an astronomical $17.98, so it was still over $16 — before sales tax — per CD! I put back seven and bought one…. I left thinking that Tower doesn’t even know how to go out of business properly. No wonder they went out of business.”
The guy has a good point–Tower’s price points always seemed a bit loopy in the $9.99-an-album download era–but that said, it’s usually bad form to bad-mouth the body at the funeral. Especially when, according to the article, 3,000 employees will be out of a job soon.
Speaking of which, there’s a gag order on Tower employees talking to the press, but we’d love to hear from you–anonymously, of course. Feel free to drop a line at tips@idolator.com, and while you’re at it, give us the security code for the register.
A time to mourn, a time to bargain hunt [LA Times]
Going out of business sales and bankruptcy sales often have prices higher than the original store prices and/or discounts. It’s a trick that works very well to clear inventory because people think they are getting great deals.
Hahaha! I *know* Dave! He’s a coworker (and is a good guy, so don’t judge harshly).
I was at the Nashville Tower store this Saturday, saw the same “Up to 30% off” signs and found out that most stuff was 10%, but an employee said that those percentages would rise as the liquidation wore on.
I still feel pretty sad that Tower has collapsed. I always try to support indie record shops (even though Tower hasn’t really been an indie shop for years), but at the same time, I also have to support myself, so if I can get a disc cheaper at Target or Best Buy, that’s where I go.
Um, they just started the liquidation yesterday, indie cheapskate hyenas. The discounts will increase over time.
I will be pillaging the Tower in Harvard Square in a few weeks. Maybe I’ll buy some of the shelving!
It depends on the city, but the major loss here is a reliable chain that stocked great jazz and classical sections. After this, great classical and jazz CD browsing will either be in specialty emporiums like Amoeba or Easy Street, which exist in remote cities, or it will exist via specialized jazz or classical stores — even though the latter specialty stores seem to always lack something to be desired.
Now some pointless random memories of the West Hollywood Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. past :D :
* Being able to buy ON-U Sound 12″ singles for $5 each in the 80s, when vinyl was the primarily medium for sale at Tower’s.
* Bumping into Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli just after the scandal hit. Both Rob and Fab were there. Rob was desperately looking for a Kid Frost cassette. The employees’ reactions were just extremely blase: “yeah, they’re here all the time.”
* The employees playing Sweet all the time, hence introducing me to “Ballroom Blitz” and the rest of their excellent catalog. (Sweet are still one of my favorite bands ever.)
* All the employees there had poofy hair. But I think this was the case in all record stores in L.A.
* The last time I was at that specific Tower was in 1987, when New Order’s Substance and Huey Lewis’s Small World came out — although I came mainly to pick up Negativland’s Escape From Noise. The former two came out the same day. One of them had posters and publicity tchotchkes all over the store. Guess which one.
Ah well.
The last time I was at that specific Tower was in 1987
But my dear Mackro, the Milli Vanilli scandal was in 1989. TIME TRAVELLER. ;-)
“One of the last times I was in…”