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Better redeem any Tower Records gift certificates you have soon, because the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in recent years. And what's more, many people have been speculating about its chances for survival, since various labels have stopped sending product because Tower hasn't been paying its bills. Huh, is that why we've been having trouble locating certain products, or is the BBC deluxe DVD of Pride & Prejudice just always sold out? Various publications have suggested that Trans World Entertainment, which owns the f.y.e. stores, Sam Goody, Coconuts, and Suncoast may buy Tower.
The Reuters article pointed out that while the Tower location in LA is a landmark, it's not the draw it once used to be. Which makes the question, can a brick-and-mortar chain store like Tower survive in this era of iTunes and Amazon - and even other broader retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy encroaching? Maybe it's lack of cafe and "hang out" space that makes Tower locations seem emptier (don't the Virgin Megastores always seem busier in comparison?). Perhaps the future is in having signings, performances and events, like a gang of actors dressed as Romans delivering the season one DVD of HBO's Rome for a publicity splash.
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Tower used to be a great place to pick up chicks.
But now the only girls who go there are plump and frumpy
Perhaps its time to move on.
Everything is overpriced there.
Yes, Tower is irrelevant. The big draw used to be that you could pick up all sorts of deep-catalogue titles that you couldn't find elsewhere. But online music is so much more reliable - why shlep out to Tower and see IF something is there, when you can just sit on your ass and order / download it?
now you can just steal.
NOOOOOO! I for one have never ever bought a single thing from Tower because everything is at MSRP but I loved to go the magazine section and read everything for free all the time. That Magazine section is amazing. quick question. ANybody knows when VIce magazine is out and where can I get it? I used to get it at the vice store but they closed.
Before y'all know it, you'll be reading on Curbed about what's going in at Broadway & East 4th Street. (not to mention W66/Bway).
A giant Chipotle perhaps?
That BBC deluxe DVD of Pride & Prejudice is always sold out 'cause it features Colin Firth's naked bum, of course.
Depends what you're going to the store for. If you want to hang out and drink coffee while reading magazines for free, I suppose Virgin's got Tower beat. But Virgin leaves a LOT to be desired in the way of selection, and I can never figure out where the hell anything is (the DVD section is particularly bad this way). And forget classical--Virgin obviously employs an autistic kid as buyer for that department.
Tower lost me with their BS pricing. I went to pick up a cd a few months ago and it was $17.99. Who prices cds at $17.99? That was like 80s CD pricing when the damn things first came out. Sure they have sale crap for $9.99 but I can buy all of that online for cheaper... or even at best buy ($7.99 for sale cds)-- I ended up finding the cd I wanted at Best Buy for $9.99 and it wasn't even on sale. Tower is irrelevant.
Amazon is cheaper, with no tax or shipping charges. Oh, and they have slightly better selection. Tower shoppers should be institutionalized.
dude, where am i going to buy my hardcore gay porn?
Tower sells Gay porn?!?!
How come I'm always the last to know? =(
Prices are ridiculous there. allofmp3.com for the win!
The Tower at West 66th has been good for renting DVDs. I live right across the street. There's no rental alternative in the immediate area. But I bet the rentals are a money loser to bring in traffic, yet I bought nothing in there over the years, except the occasional blank MiniDV tape or CD-R spindle, because I always felt the music was overpriced. Always cheaper to get the discount price on Amazon.
all good things must come to an end i guess. In high school, I bought everything there, college too. But I probably haven't been in a Tower in a decade. It's such a shame that New York doesn't have a great music store. Don't give me 'Other Music' either, it's not bad, but this is New York, we should have something great. I think Other Music is about as good as Richmond's Plan 9 or Reckless in Chicago. A little shop on 9th avenue, future legend is a pretty good small shop, btw. But boy howdy, do I wish we had an Amoeba here. The Height-Ashbury branch is the best record store in America.
J&R is the only place to buy music in person.
yeah, I wish they had an Amoeba here too...but the one in LA is better and bigger than the one on haight-ashbury in sf.
They actually have some good deals from time to time. I picked up some BBC DVDs there for a really good price a few months back. Sad---maybe I should start taking pics of the 66th/Broadway location for posterity.
J and R? are you fucking crazy? The people who work there are all old jews, and indians who don't know shit about music.
I'd like to thank whatever Russian invented allofmp3.com
Maybe it's because they accuse black shoppers of shoplifting for no reason. Good Riddance.
I used to be the mag buyer at 4th and Bway for 8 or so years and always carried indy stuff, zines, graffitti mags... I was the book buyer for 5 years and bought the crappy stuff as well as a lot of great titles from Loompanics and Feral House etc until they told me to stop buying the small stuff and started buying nationwide for the whole chain. I bought 7" vinyl and carried a ton of hardcore and punk until I was told to stop buying it. I bought computer games before any record store in the area until Tower told me to stop buying it ..I remember when they started selling action figures and stereos to try to compete with the Wiz or whoever they thought they could compete with, instead of just getting good music at good prices. Idiotic. That was the beginning of the end. I was clerk, dept head, buyer and supervisor at Tower for 11 years at that location until I was fired for being late one Sunday (read that - to railroad me out and hire 3 workers in my place at my wage) I can't wait to laugh heartily when Tower shuts down. I can't wait to see the doors swing closed for good. I hope a Starbucks replaces it, or TOys R Us. Or MacDonalds. Fuck them. They buried themselves.