The 152-store, Texas-based chain Hastings Entertainment, which has a lot of stores based in the Texas/Oklahoma area and more scattered around the West, is probably a good measuring stick by which to judge music retail in general. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the news isn’t all that great: Revenue in general is up compared to last year, but that might be largely due to gains made selling refurbished iPods and Webkins. Meanwhile, music retail is down 14.2% over last year, which wasn’t that great of a year to begin with. Still, the stock’s dividends are apparently steady, so Hastings will likely be around next year–but it may be out of the business of selling music by then. [Motley Fool]
the biz
Least Shocking News Of The Day: Music Retail Numbers Down
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the biz
Based on the stores I’ve been in, a majority of Hastings’ inventory is used. For several years, up until 2005 or so, they would give you the new CD of your choice for any four used CDs, no questions asked (a policy I made extensive use of).
Hastings is also famous in Texas for rarely, if ever, re-alphabetizing the stock. So you could walk in there in early January, looking for, say, AC/DC, and in the A’s find Candlebox, Machine Head, Enrique Iglesias, etc., but no AC/DC.
@MrStarhead:
you should have looked under “D” for “DC, AC/”
Heh…Candlebox.