Tower Records is getting liquidated

[mel]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated



Slim pickins' as inventory thins out at Tower Records Keeaumoku.

More photos at this link: Tower Records Closing.

I bought only one CD last night, the latest by Neko Case for $9.

It's a slow burn to oblivion for Tower Records. They'll be missed.

What do they plan to do for parking?

I thought about this and with Walgreens planning to use the present facility, I think what they could do is knock down the adjacent building where the standalone TowerVideo was and pave it over for a parking lot. It won't be a lot but certainly more than what Tower has now.

[mel]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

Tower Records Keeaumoku is selling all CDs for 60% off. CD singles 75% off. DVDs 50% off. Very slim pickings unless you want to get the special editions of Star Wars IV, V & VI... these are double DVD sets with the re-edit movies and the original versions. $9.99 ea. I bought a 2nd set to give to someone for Christmas.

Lastly there is a sign on the outside of the Tower Records door. "Only 10 Days Left".

[AlohaKine]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

Looks like stand alone music stores are going the way of drive in theaters.

[pzarquon]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

Thanks for the frequent updates, Mel. After you noted that all the Beatles stuff was gone, though, we lost interest in further scavenging. 60 percent off is pretty good, but I can't imagine there's much left worth buying. Ten more days...

My wife used to work for Tower (both at Keeaumoku and Kahala). When we last stopped in, we caught up with several of her old coworkers. Amazingly (for retail especially), many of them had been there for over a decade. And most, fortunately, had other prospects... many much more rewarding than staffing a register at a failing music store.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

And most, fortunately, had other prospects... many much more rewarding than staffing a register at a failing music store.

That's good to hear, pz. I've met several of them over the years, as they helped me greatly in building up a decent Hawaiian music library for my job.

Many of the folks at the Seattle stores are talented, knowledgable, creative & thoughtful people - I hope they are adept at landing on their feet (I'm also hoping we'll be able to hire a couple of them before long.)

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

Visited TR in Kahala last night. CDs are 70% off. From my other visits, I don't think the two stores are running the same discounts.

But in talking with a co-worker today, I think I know of a few possible reasons that Tower went under. It's dangerous to characterize a whole chain from just one store. But parking sucked, the store was dingy and the music being played was usually trash and played much too loud. It's one thing to play off the beaten track music, but when you have the stock (overhead) of carrying all types of music, it's not a good idea to play stuff that drive off everyone but a narrow group.

I also have to wonder about their stocking. If the liquidation company didn't bring in some other stock to liquidate at the same time, I'd say that Tower had way too much stock. It's taken them about two months now to sell what they have in a "going out of business" sale. Way too much. And from what I've seen they've also been too overstocked on certain albums.

[scrivener]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

That ridiculous stock is what characterized Tower as THE place to get music, back in the day. You might have paid a buck or two more, but you could get stuff at Tower that you just couldn't get elsewhere, unless you were into catalogue shopping, and music is often an impulse buy. When Tower opened up on Keeaumoku, there were a few standalone record stores and a few mall stores, but none of them compared to Tower. The experience was better, the selection was unparalleled, and for a music geek like me, the education was critical. I spent hours and hours and hours just flipping through stacks of records, reading the backs of jackets, soaking in musicians' names and record labels. I didn't always spend money when I was in Tower, but when I spent money, I spent it at Tower.

Some of my best memories are in Tower, but I do not mourn its passing. The simple reason for its ultimate failure is that it refused to adapt to a changing market, alienating itself from even its most ardent fans (me). Of course I still appreciated the massive selection, but in a world where specialty online stores will stock in just one genre as many titles as a Tower store could stock altogether, Tower and its ilk, like the rest of the music industry, was just too slow to figure out a new plan, turning its loyal customers into the enemy.

[mel]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated



Went vulture shopping today. The store on Keeaumoku Street was actually busy with bargain hunters this afternoon trying to find something good enough to spend a few more dollars on. I walked out of there with an Old 97's Greatest Hits compilation CD for $5.70, a Gerry Rafferty and Creedence Clearwater Revival "Cosmo's Factory" CDs for $3.90 each among a few others. In all slightly over $20 spent this afternoon; some CDs will end up being cheap gifts to a few acquaintences this Christmas season.

Store supposedly closes Dec. 17.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

That ridiculous stock is what characterized Tower as THE place to get music, back in the day.

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. There's selection and then there's depth. How many copies of Blondie's Parallel Lines did they need to have? Or for that matter, how many copies of Star Wars DVDs? I'll be the last person to complain about a store having too much selection. But with halfway modern systems, it should be possible to economically replace every bought CD within 2 weeks. So why did they have so many copies?

[mel]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

Those surplus Star Wars DVDs were selling for $10 last week and I bought another set to give out as a Christmas present to a Star Wars fan on my list.

Having way too much of these DVDs when they first came out pretty much tells me that Tower never took into account that the same DVDs were selling for a lot less at WalMart and other big boxes. When they were on sale for regular prices, Tower was always about $5 to $8 higher. It's only during these last days that those Star Wars DVDs truly became affordable at Tower.... too little, too late for them.

[jkpescador]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

It felt good yesterday to buy 3 CDs and 1 DVD for $20. Wow! FYI I bought:

The Life Pursuit - Belle and Sebastian
Big as the Sky - AM60 (www.am60.com)
Under the Covers. Vol. 1 - Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs
Howard Jones concert DVD

[Miulang]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

A Washington Post reporter waxes poetic over the glory days of this soon-to-be gone institution.

Miulang

[mel]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

A Washington Post reporter waxes poetic over the glory days of this soon-to-be gone institution.

Good article, but the truth of the matter is that today, digital pretty much rules, despite DRM issues associated with that. For people who like CDs and DVDs, in most cases, the big boxes like WalMart and BestBuy will now have to do.

Of course major cities may still have smaller mom & pop type of record stores that will hold on for as long as they can. Here we still have Jelly's, Rainbow Books & Records and Hungry Ear on the Windward side. How long will they all last?

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

I think DVDs were only the most obvious one, but I think looking over the selection there were others. It's gone now, but at one time they also had quite a number of copies of Jethro Tull's older stuff. I can see having a number of copies of new releases, but the older stuff??

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Tower Records is getting liquidated

It's all but over. The sign on the door last night said "Last 3 days". The stands have been re-arranged to limit the browsing area. The listening stations are gone, so you can't even check out anything you're not sure of. People were browsing, but the lone casher was just standing there waiting for someone to buy. The sound system is now in the bargain bin ($250 for a 600W amp anyone?) as are the price guns.

Some stuff is 80% off. A few days ago at Kahala they had a sign that indicated that "If you like Santana check this out". I did, I figured $3 is worth the risk for Cesar's "Worlds of Change". Singles are now 4/$1.

A few days back, I did something I don't think I've ever done at a Tower - I asked them what was playing. (Is that a sign they are slipping or what?) I thought it was a remix of the Disco "Jump". Wasn't. A group called "Girls Aloud". Apparently quite popular in UK, unknown here. Given the price of the CD $25, I'm not surprised. (Amazon not much cheaper) But at 70% discount..... score! Cool mix of musical types. VERY infectious dance beat and some nice harmonies (something missing from much of today's stuff) and understandable lyrics. Tower may still have some given the unknown status.

I am such a sucker for discounts.