Tower Records is done, caput, gone

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Get ready to raid the piggy bank, a BIG sale is begining.
http://www.pollstar.com/news/viewnews.pl?NewsID=7330

― JB Young (JB Young), Sunday, 8 October 2006 00:06 (nineteen years ago)

They vanished from Britain about five years ago.

― chap who would dare to contain two ingredients. Tea and bags. (chap), Sunday, 8 October 2006 00:07 (nineteen years ago)

are you OK, Paul??

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Sunday, 8 October 2006 00:18 (nineteen years ago)

woops - Tower Records Files for Bankruptcy

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Sunday, 8 October 2006 00:25 (nineteen years ago)

haha, it could have been worse!

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 8 October 2006 00:26 (nineteen years ago)

> "I think it just goes to show you the rapidly changing nature of the specialty entertainment business," said Joe Gomes, an industry analyst with McGinn Smith.

Specialty entertainment business? What the fuck?

― It's the lazy and immoral way to become super hip. (Austin, Still), Sunday, 8 October 2006 02:43 (nineteen years ago)

Sounds like a euphemism for dildos.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Sunday, 8 October 2006 02:46 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, but they only have Vote For Pedro dildos at Tower.

― 0xDOX0RNUTX0RX0RSDABITFIELDXOR^0xDEADBEEFDEADBEEF00001 (donut), Sunday, 8 October 2006 02:48 (nineteen years ago)

I thought Trans World Entertainment was the name of the company that Pearl guy who managed Nsync and the Backstreet Boys ran

― Period period period (Period period period), Sunday, 8 October 2006 03:56 (nineteen years ago)

i think i remember seeing tower records in london, when i had a 6 month stint there 3 years ago? no?

― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Sunday, 8 October 2006 04:03 (nineteen years ago)

The one in Glasgow (UK) has been shut for at least 3 years...

― Andrew Munro (andyboyo), Sunday, 8 October 2006 07:43 (nineteen years ago)

Tower Records had the prime three-floor store on Piccadilly Circus (and other branches too - one near Camden Town Tube); I think this was the last one to go, about 18 months ago, maybe? It's now the flagship Virgin Megastore. I don't know how long Tower was in that location - since the late '80s, maybe?

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Sunday, 8 October 2006 09:13 (nineteen years ago)

I remember that Tower Records store to be my favourite store in the entire London, due to its size (I always judge any record store by the size of its back catalogue). Sad to see it go, but hopefully Virgin is some of the same.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 8 October 2006 09:45 (nineteen years ago)

I think the Glasgow one has been shut for at least 5 years.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Sunday, 8 October 2006 10:16 (nineteen years ago)

I remember trying to buy 12" vinyl from Tower before the big stores cottoned on to the fact that it would be good if the punters could listen to it first and installed turntables for pre-listening. They had tonnes of transmat and planet e I recall, and had no way of distinguishing shit and shinola; bizarre.

― lexurian (lexurian), Sunday, 8 October 2006 11:25 (nineteen years ago)

Fuck, this really does mean a sale is on eh? Too bad what I want can't be got on CD.

― Bassment Jacks (Bimble...), Sunday, 8 October 2006 11:30 (nineteen years ago)

Okay okay, I know. Some Tower Records still have vinyl don't they? I know this for a fact. I saw Jimmy Destri's LP (ex-Blondie) at one of them. But it's probably not a decent selection is it? Anyone from Seattle want to comment? Should I make my way to a Tower or forget it?

― Bassment Jacks (Bimble...), Sunday, 8 October 2006 11:32 (nineteen years ago)

Seattle Tower certainly has vinyl (or at least did before their current troubles). A pretty good, but hardly comprehensive selection.

― Apocalypse '07: Rodney Strikes Back (R. J. Greene), Sunday, 8 October 2006 12:21 (nineteen years ago)

I need the vinyl smack, man. Black Vinyl Smack.

― Bassment Jacks (Bimble...), Sunday, 8 October 2006 13:36 (nineteen years ago)

The Tower here is only doing 10 percent off CD's, 20 percent off books, and 30 percent off magazines. It's an hour drive to get to, so for me it's not worth it. 20 percent might have been, not not 10.

― Eric Wahl (Eric Wahl), Sunday, 8 October 2006 16:52 (nineteen years ago)

tower records in europe /= tower records in the states. pls read other thread.

― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 8 October 2006 16:54 (nineteen years ago)

the 10/20/30% sale is going at the store in campbell, ca as well

― yours fondly, harshaw. (mrgn), Sunday, 8 October 2006 17:25 (nineteen years ago)

I went to the store in NYC on 4th st and Broadway yesterday, and they had the 10/20/30 deal too. Which is all well and good, but when most of their cds are originally 18.99, it's not such a great deal. Some liquidation sale....

― Jam (1020am), Monday, 9 October 2006 14:35 (nineteen years ago)

If only Mickey's PSAs had reached more pirates...

― js (honestengine), Monday, 9 October 2006 15:45 (nineteen years ago)

Jam (jredick@pratt.edu), October 9th, 2006.

Had the same experience and I agree, pretty lame.

― N Mallin (DocMartensBoots), Monday, 9 October 2006 15:50 (nineteen years ago)

The discounts will get deeper as time goes on. Supposedly the liquidation is going to take place over the next 2 months.

― nickn (nickn), Monday, 9 October 2006 16:43 (nineteen years ago)

tower records was great if you wanted to buy a CD (at 17 bucks) and deal with some ass-fart suburban kid who thought promise ring was a "really great band" (sporting some lame tattoos and a ringer t-shirt completed only with a trucker hat [same fellow would be later found likely to be a huge fan of dios malos and later superchunk]). or the techno-industrial girl with unflattering facial piercings who undoubtedly started with marilyn manson and had recently been found to be listening to annie lennox, pop will eat itself, and einstürzende neubauten's newest album.

long live tower records, right?

― corey c (shock of daylight), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 05:42 (nineteen years ago)

Ironically, Virgin Megastore in Boston, which took the place of Tower records, is having their own liquidation/goodbye sale over the next month. 30% off everything.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 10:30 (nineteen years ago)

Sad.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 10:32 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.interdesignsa.com/images/uniform_collection/fastfood1.jpg

Corey C's ideal record store employees.

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 10:59 (nineteen years ago)

xxpost, didn't HMV reside in that Boston space between the Tower and Virgin tenures?

I'm not thrilled to see both Virgin and Tower leave Boston...now, it will pretty much be down to Newbury Comics and Twisted Village...

really, it seems that in two years time, there will be no such thing as a "new" record shop...(the disc-diggin' used vinyl places will probably always exist, in some form or another)...this makes me sad...

― hank (hank s), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 14:43 (nineteen years ago)

My fondest memories of Tower in London (which I accept wasn't the same company as the US Tower, or wasn't for a while) are associated with its very un-British opening hours.

Often the exit to the Piccadilly Circus Tube station would close before the store did (which did leave me stranded in town overnight once) and meant lots of post-11pm drunken purchases. The Camden store was open very late too; I once bought a "round" while drinking at the Spread Eagle up the road in the form of records I thought my friends should hear.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 15:07 (nineteen years ago)

this is kind of a bummer; i used to spend hundreds of dollars here back in the day collecting all the bin CDs. (which are now all gradually being sold back)

i hope the guys in the classical section at broadway and 4th find some other work. one time the bearded guy chased me down outside of the store ("Sir! SIR!") to tell me about a recording he forgot to mention upstairs.

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 15:07 (nineteen years ago)

In Chicago they had one of the greatest selections of imports

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 15:24 (nineteen years ago)

The effect is going to depend from city to city.

In Seattle, Tower was really superfluous, given the presence of Everyday and Easy Street. Sonic Boom may not be rolling in bills right now, but they're doing much better than any Tower in the city, which is really saying something. Tower leaving, outside classical and jazz, is going to have zero effect, except maybe far less ways to get Napolean Dynamite paraphanelia.

There's Bud's Jazz records in Pioneer Square, but it never has or had the volume of the jazz CDs at Tower. (It does have used vinyl though.)

I'm hoping someone opens up a good comprehensive classical CD store in the city.

― 0xDOX0RNUTX0RX0RSDABITFIELDXOR^0xDEADBEEFDEADBEEF00001 (donut), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 15:43 (nineteen years ago)

-- corey c

I think these two just worked at your Tower Records. Employees at my local store are nondescript.

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 18:00 (nineteen years ago)

I will miss shoplifting there

― Dr. Alicia D. Titsovich (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 18:26 (nineteen years ago)

These threads read like a wake....reminds me when Bibelot Books went outta business 5-6 years ago. Suddenly the stores were packed with vultures, and I was one of them.

Sadly the closest Tower is way, way outta my way...but who knows, maybe I can get down there one night or something.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 18:56 (nineteen years ago)

can we lock this thread and keep discussion to the other thread?

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 10 October 2006 19:10 (nineteen years ago)

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