Tower Records

[PHILLYQ]

Last Thursday I went to the Tower on Broadway and West 4th in NYC, to both bargain hunt and to get one last walk through the store. The discs were 20% off, so no great bargains for their full price merchandise. I hunted and hunted and found a half dozen discs(one a 2 disc set) for about $80 with tax. Good, but not great. The selection, however, is pretty well diminished already. The racks looked like they'd pretty well picked over, with lots of blank spaces on the racks. There were signs all over the store that exhorted all to buy now or it might be gone. A litle twinge of sadness after all the times I had shopped there and discovered something new, but life must move on.

[DMP]

Is the Tower "on-line" operation still going?

[Stefan Wood]

Just checked the online site. You wouldn't know that they were liquidating. Everything looks as normal.

[Patrick]

Tower online is not liquidating. They are selling that business separately. Letter from CEO:

Hello,

First, my sincere apology for not writing to you right after the auction. As you may know, we are still in the process of selling Tower.com to one of several potential buyers. Tower.com continues to offer a huge selection of music, movies and books in stock, which means you can start your holiday shopping now and take advantage of their low prices and free shipping on orders of $20 or more.

We also want to thank you for your support of Tower.com as we go through this process. Use coupon code CF53T6A at Tower.com through Friday, November 10 to save an additional 10% off your next order.

Additionally, the Going Out of Business sales are progressing at each of our store locations. Don't miss your last chance to shop at a Tower Records Store nearest you.

Thanks again for your support throughout the years, and we hope to have a great holiday season with you at Tower.com.

Sincerely,

Joe D'Amico

CEO

[Adam]

I went to Tower Sunset in LA last Monday. CDs were 25% off. I bought a few. The workers there suggested coming back in a couple of weeks, and things should be at (get this) 30% off! yee haw!

But they recommended waiting on things that had many copies on the shelves. Unfortunately, in jazz, that mostly meant music by smooth jazz makers. I ended up buying a few non-jazz albums: Os Mutantes, Mutantes, 2 Ethiopiques volumes.

It's unclear whether they will drop box set prcies any more. I'll check it out once more closer to Thanksgiving.

[Edward]

I dropped by Tower Costa Mesa this morning, and all of the CD's (including boxed sets) were on sale for at least 30% off; Latin CD's were on sale for 40% off.

It appears that the sales discount is increasing by about 5% or so every week, with the additional cuts being put into place every Thursday. On another thread, someone quoted a reliable source as stating that the discount would reach 50% by Thanksgiving with further increases of 10% per week taking effect thereafter.

Edited November 4, 2006 by Edward

[BruceH]

I looked for the Artie Shaw box at three different Towers. Of course I couldn't find the damn thing.

[BruceH]

I used to love the Virgin megastore on Newbury Street, Boston, but I thought they went over to the dark side when they got rid of all their vinyl.

[Cali]

Went by Tower Records in Pasadena last night (30% discount at this time). They had over a dozen different titles by Sun Ra in the bin. I had never seen more than one or two titles by him in this store before and I have been going to this store for fourteen years.

Question: Why am I seeing inventory in this store that I've never seen before? I'm seeing other classic titles for the first time in this store. Are they stocking the shelves with things they've had all along or are they bringing in items from other stores?

[Big Al]

I went to the Dallas store last night. Pickin's are still pretty good despite the fact that I only found three things from my wishlist (Miles Prestige Quintet box, Whistle Stop RVG, Let Me Tell You About It RVG). But it did make me long for the days when Tower had everything on my wishlist, none of which is particularly obscure (some OJCs, the Byrd Transition sessions). Still, there are a few items I left on the racks in hopes that they'll still be there when the 50% clearance comes around.

[rostasi]

Al,

What was the percentage off at the Dallas store?

Thanks!

[kh1958]

Al,

What was the percentage off at the Dallas store?

Thanks!

On Wednesday it was still 30% off CDs, plus a 10% election day reduction, plus the 5% off coupons that were emailed.

[rostasi]

On Wednesday it was still 30% off CDs, plus a 10% election day reduction, plus the 5% off coupons that were emailed.

Oh, "still", eh?

Ok, I hadn't been since the beginnings of the 10% off, so I didn't even know that they were at 30%.

Should go tomorrow I suppose.

Thanks!

[Chuck Nessa]

I feel sorry for Russ Solomon. He did a fine thing and I hope he doesn't feel defeated.

Pick over the bones boys.

[rostasi]

Feel bad for him too.

Eventually, it will get down to the bones,

but I think most of us may be just

waiting for all the fat to be cut off first.

[slide_advantage_redoux]

I dropped by the Dallas location a couple of weeks ago and actually had two or three CDs in hand, but then I looked at the regular price. $18.95?? Sure, 30% off is nice, but when they have that kind of a head start it kind of sucks. I put them down and walked out.

[Kalo]

Stopped by the Harvard Square Tower last Wednesday and the jazz and classical sections were decimated, though discounts were still only 30% off.

All of the Criterion DVDs were gone, too.

Still plenty of rock and pop stuff in the bins, though.

[BERIGAN]

Tons o' stuff at the one in the ATL still. I was there for a very special one day only sale, with an additional 10% off the 30 % off price!(on cds only) I thought they were to be out of biz by about this time??? Not that I want them gone, just thought mid November they would be closed up. They should have waited a few more weeks, and had 30% off during December and made it thru the end of December at least.....and these liquidators know what they're doing, eh???

Edited November 13, 2006 by BERIGAN

[Stefan Wood]

The Towers are still restocking. Went to a couple of stores in Northern Va, and one was depleted, while another still looking full. Perhaps different locations will close on different dates? I really went after the latin cds, as they were 40% off. Picked up a bunch of the Fania/Tico/Alegre reissues at $8 each.

[Adam]

I went to Tower Sunset yesterday. The store was officially at 30% off, but they were having an additional 10% off yesterday and today, making 40%. Given Tower's full list price starting point, it finally made it worth it, and I bought way too much. Ah well.

I looked for those Fania reissues though and couldn't find them anywhere. Their World music pickings were thinned out quite a bit, although I did get a couple more Ethiopiques, etc.

They did have a few Mosaic Selects, though, with a starting point price of $54. With the 40% off, that makes them about $33. I didn't buy any, but I saw Freddie Slack, Shank & Cooper, and one other on which I am blanking.

[BruceH]

I went to Tower Sunset yesterday. The store was officially at 30% off, but they were having an additional 10% off yesterday and today, making 40%. Given Tower's full list price starting point, it finally made it worth it, and I bought way too much. Ah well.

I looked for those Fania reissues though and couldn't find them anywhere. Their World music pickings were thinned out quite a bit, although I did get a couple more Ethiopiques, etc.

They did have a few Mosaic Selects, though, with a starting point price of $54. With the 40% off, that makes them about $33. I didn't buy any, but I saw Freddie Slack, Shank & Cooper, and one other on which I am blanking.

Yeah, same here. I saw the Dizzy Reece Select, but when I went back it was gone.

[BruceH]

I dropped by the Dallas location a couple of weeks ago and actually had two or three CDs in hand, but then I looked at the regular price. $18.95?? Sure, 30% off is nice, but when they have that kind of a head start it kind of sucks.

Ain't it the truth.

[BruceH]

Stopped by the Harvard Square Tower last Wednesday and the jazz and classical sections were decimated, though discounts were still only 30% off.

All of the Criterion DVDs were gone, too.

Still plenty of rock and pop stuff in the bins, though.

But what of the Minutemen?

[Chalupa]

The jazz and classical sections at Broad and Walnut in Philly have been picked clean. Although, I managed to pick up "Tes Esat" for $9 bucks. They are still restocking rock/pop sections.

Edited November 16, 2006 by Chalupa

[kh1958]

The Dallas store is now 40% off everything.