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RIP: Tower Records

post #1 of 26
10/13/06 at 3:44pm
Thread Starter 
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15251144/

I find this article fairly humorous, considering that I typically found the service at Tower to be terrible (normally due to workers gossiping and goofing off), the selection to be sub-standard, and the prices exorbitant. I routinely purchased identical selections for forty to sixty percent less through Amazon or Ebay. The idea that a customer desires or needs "knowledgeable" sales people to help them purchase music is laughable considering the wealth of information available on-line.

The music industry, as a whole, has failed to evolve into the digital era. I remember shopping one day and holding in my hand a Fellowship of the Ring DVD, and it cost 16.99.....in the other hand I held the soundtrack for the movie and it cost 18.99.
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post #2 of 26
10/13/06 at 3:52pm
For me, as an ex-Tower employee for 4 years, this is not unexpected.

Certainly has more to do with mismanagement and lazy drunkards in charge of Tower stores across the country than anything else.



...that and the $19 CD's.
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post #3 of 26
10/13/06 at 3:56pm
When I lived in the suburbs of Chicago, I used to visit Tower Records all the time. Mostly, thought, for the setting. Typically, after a long Tower Records visit, I would need to go to Best Buy and get the CD's I wanted for five or six bucks less. I liked the way the store was set-up, but the price is more important than supporting an institution.
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post #4 of 26
10/13/06 at 3:57pm
I always liked Tower, but I probably did browse there more than I bought. Generally if I saw something I liked I'd make a note to grab it off Amazon or Ebay.

Their prices were a ripoff. I do recall they used to have big sales around the 4th of July that really helped build my DVD collection before I started to shop more online.

For a mainstream chain store they had a good selection of hardcore pornography.
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post #5 of 26
10/13/06 at 4:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti
For a mainstream chain store they had a good selection of hardcore pornography.

You can say that again.
I was in charge of magazines.

60 copies of Black Inches anyone?
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post #6 of 26
10/13/06 at 4:10pm
I'll trade ya for 1 copy of Sixty Inches.
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post #7 of 26
10/13/06 at 4:14pm
I can't say much bad about a national chain that allows me to buy VHS copies of RAPID FIRE and GANGABANG FACE WASH in one trip without feeling like a perv.
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post #8 of 26
10/13/06 at 4:26pm
I used to shop a lot at Tower Records when I lived in Japan. Frequented the one in Shibuya, and the one in Naha, Okinawa--both places had a great selection (Shibuya was really big), and the prices were about the same as I'd pay anywhere else in Japan. Until then, I was a confirmed indie shopper. Back in Chicago, I reverted to the same--I'd check out the new releases at Tower, then buy them in my neighborhood.

Still, it's hard to feel bad about a big conglomerate going under. I hope the people that get sacked move on to something else soon, but otherwise it'll just be the same crap in a different bag. I don't feel the sudden urge to run down to a Virgin Megastore, hug someone and thank them for being there for me.
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post #9 of 26
10/13/06 at 4:42pm
I used to shop @ the Tower in Shibuya as well. That place and THE LOFT were pretty much my main hangout spots during my late teen years. Great selection of imports (best of luck finding Dinner With the Browns anywhere else in the country), and close to all the theaters and kaiten sushi joints.

I don't think this will affect some of the overseas Tower stores like the ones in Tokyo and Seoul, as I remember reading somewhere they were bought out years ago.
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post #10 of 26
10/13/06 at 4:52pm
I live near a Tower Records that had moved from its location to it's current location in the revamped Sherman Oaks Galleria. The location is nice but as previously mentioned, their prices were far higher than of other places. In fact, there's a SecondSpin down the street with better prices on most cds and even then I'll go to Best Buy.

So it kind of sucks that their going under but they've been under dire striaghts for quite a long time.

Right now the merchandise at that store is 30% off their normal price. Even then that's still above Best Buy prices and not worth the cost.
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post #11 of 26
10/13/06 at 5:02pm
The one in my area is marking down CD's a whopping 15%! Hold me back!
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post #12 of 26
10/13/06 at 5:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Isao Kanemasa
I used to shop @ the Tower in Shibuya as well. That place and THE LOFT were pretty much my main hangout spots during my late teen years. Great selection of imports (best of luck finding Dinner With the Browns anywhere else in the country), and close to all the theaters and kaiten sushi joints.

I don't think this will affect some of the overseas Tower stores like the ones in Tokyo and Seoul, as I remember reading somewhere they were bought out years ago.
Yeah, I went there for the imports too. They really had a fantastic selection--stuff I would have never found anywhere else. I used to go to a great Indian place afterward, down a maze of alleys. I probably couldn't even find the place now, and I can't imagine that it's still there.

The store in Naha was really great too. It was up near the top of a modern shopping center that had been designed by Ando Tadao--there was a big banyan tree growing on the roof. It was surrounded by the city market--lots of little shops and open air vendors. We used to go by the fish market after we went shopping--you could pick out a fish and they'd cook it for you at a restaurant upstairs. Hope it's still there--I'll probably wind up there again, and it's nice to have access to imports. I hate to have to count on the local Tsutaya for something.

It's kind of funny to be nostalgic for a place that I wasn't really interested in when I was in the states. Like looking forward to getting an avacado burger at the Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo, but cringing at the thought of visiting one in the US.
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post #13 of 26
10/13/06 at 5:16pm
I didn't know so many Chewers got CD's off Amazon.com.
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post #14 of 26
10/13/06 at 5:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti
I can't say much bad about a national chain that allows me to buy VHS copies of RAPID FIRE and GANGABANG FACE WASH in one trip without feeling like a perv.
Like where you buy GANGBANG FACE WASH has anything to do with your status as a perv.
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post #15 of 26
10/13/06 at 5:24pm
I haven't paid more than 15 dollars for CD at Tower. I guess that might be because I dont buy garbage like Beyonce or The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Do you guys think that Best Buy as a comparable selection to Tower? I've never found a single CD I'd purchase in Best Buy. I'm sure they're fine if you want Garth Brooks. Electric Wizard, not so much. Thankfully I'm pretty lucky to live in Seattle where we have a multitude of well stocked, independently owned record stores.
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post #16 of 26
10/13/06 at 5:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad Man Mundt
....I've never found a single CD I'd purchase in Best Buy. I'm sure they're fine if you want Garth Brooks....
Funny thing about that:

Quote:
Garth Brooks has signed a multi-year, exclusive pact with Wal-Mart, making the retailer and its Sam's Clubs and Walmart.com outlets the only places where his music will be commercially available.

The deal with Brooks marks the first time an artist -- and certainly a superstar -- has aligned himself and his entire catalog with one chain. (A number of other retailers have started labels, but they were never exclusive to the retailer and most have shut down).
Yet another in a long line of reasons why I do not shop at Wally World.
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post #17 of 26
10/13/06 at 5:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad Man Mundt
I haven't paid more than 15 dollars for CD at Tower. I guess that might be because I dont buy garbage like Beyonce or The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Do you guys think that Best Buy as a comparable selection to Tower? I've never found a single CD I'd purchase in Best Buy. I'm sure they're fine if you want Garth Brooks. Electric Wizard, not so much. Thankfully I'm pretty lucky to live in Seattle where we have a multitude of well stocked, independently owned record stores.
I find Best Buy/Circuit City to have a fairly decent selection of odd and older bands/CD's that I like. If I can't find it there, then it's the Amazon for me. Not a lot of independent music stores in Akron, Ohio. There used to be a great chain of five stores called Quonset Hut, but they stopped selling CD's about a year ago (which sucked so bad, I loved that place) and now are just filled with bong pipes, T-shirts with vulgar phrases, and skateboards.

Ohh, and on the Tower/porn front - you are correct. I remember the first time I went in, and I walked through these saloon looking doors into the porn section. The best part was that is was just a section with small little doors on both ends, so any child who wanted could take a peek and see a tranny getting a fist up their ass.
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post #18 of 26
10/13/06 at 5:54pm
Thread Starter 
All this talk of selection is kind of mind-boggling to me. Why bother schlepping to a physical store when you have an enormous catalogue through on-line services? No store in the world is going to match amazon, ebay, or even the on-line versions of target, best buy, etc. Plus, Amazon basically ships for free (buy more than 25.00 bucks worth).

I absolutely have zero time to waste going to a store, or even worse, stores, looking for a product that they don't carry.

With the exception of items such as clothing, furniture, or prostitutes (things that ALWAYS must be selected in person) I basically buy everything on-line at this point.
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post #19 of 26
10/13/06 at 6:01pm
Tower had some good stuff. I remember once that i spied a Monty Python Black Knight Doll with removable limbs and some onimusha action figures. I never saw them again.
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post #20 of 26
10/13/06 at 6:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Overlord
All this talk of selection is kind of mind-boggling to me. Why bother schlepping to a physical store when you have an enormous catalogue through on-line services? No store in the world is going to match amazon, ebay, or even the on-line versions of target, best buy, etc. Plus, Amazon basically ships for free (buy more than 25.00 bucks worth).

I absolutely have zero time to waste going to a store, or even worse, stores, looking for a product that they don't carry.

With the exception of items such as clothing, furniture, or prostitutes (something that ALWAYS must be selected in person) I basically buy everything on-line at this point.
I find great joy in perusing thru a store's massive selections of various hard-to-find titles – it's one of the reasons I usually stop by DVD Planet in Garden Grove whenever I'm in the neighborhood. Also, back when I used to shop at the Shibuya Tower (late 80s~early 90s), noone yet had heard of buying stuff online. You had to go and hunt them out, or resort to the slow as hell mail/phone orders, and a lot of the stores didn't even offer that.

NH, I totally hear you. For me a big part of the draw was the familiarity factor, much like eating at their MacDonalds (though I actually prefer the local MosBurger, or even First Kitchen) - a little piece of home in a far away, strange land.
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post #21 of 26
10/13/06 at 6:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobblemonkey
Funny thing about that:



Yet another in a long line of reasons why I do not shop at Wally World.

Well I didn't know about that. As far as Garth Brooks goes, I'd pay good money to see David Allan Coe punch him in the face. As to selection, only speaking for myself as a music fan, I love browseing through the physical racks, picking up that record in my hands, and going home to give it a spin. It's an instant gratification thing.
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post #22 of 26
10/13/06 at 6:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad Man Mundt
Well I didn't know about that. As far as Garth Brooks goes, I'd pay good money to see David Allan Coe punch him in the face. As to selection, only speaking for myself as a music fan, I love browseing through the physical racks, picking up that record in my hands, and going home to give it a spin. It's an instant gratification thing.
I find that process to be annoying, which probably explains my disconnect with those of you who like the tactile experience of shopping. I like to browse and read about titles on-line (for example, Amazon's review system)...handling the packaging doesn't really provide any type of gratification.
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post #23 of 26
10/13/06 at 6:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad Man Mundt
Well I didn't know about that....
I didn't expect you to. Only fans of the man's shitty music, business folk and retail workers would know.
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post #24 of 26
10/13/06 at 7:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Overlord
I find that process to be annoying, which probably explains my disconnect with those of you who like the tactile experience of shopping. I like to browse and read about titles on-line (for example, Amazon's review system)...handling the packaging doesn't really provide any type of gratification.
I only find that I enjoy that for books and music. I like thumbing through pages or maybe having a clerk let you have a go at a listening copy before you buy. Those song samples on Amazon or other on-line sites just don't cut it. I find that producing a record is equal parts art and craft and that a good deal of that is getting sort of lost in the on-line retail expierence. That isn't to say I don't buy on line. I do, but usually when I can't find what I'm looking for at a bricks and mortar store. The way I see it is that the independently owned stores in my city and neighborhood need and deserve my money more than Amazon.
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post #25 of 26
10/13/06 at 11:06pm
The best buy i go to are always higher than any other chain stores. I work at walmart and have coned many a clerk to giving me a lower price because of thee price match thing. I got Scrubs season 4 for 20 bucks
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post #26 of 26
10/13/06 at 11:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken
I live near a Tower Records that had moved from its location to it's current location in the revamped Sherman Oaks Galleria. The location is nice but as previously mentioned, their prices were far higher than of other places. In fact, there's a SecondSpin down the street with better prices on most cds and even then I'll go to Best Buy
I love that SecondSpin off of Ventura Blvd. I have found some pretty hard to find soundtracks there.
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