Barnes & Noble brick-and-mortar sale

[Harold_Z]

I asked the clerk straight out if they were downsizing the cds. He said "It wouldn't surprise me at all. I know they're enlarging the DVDs and bringing in a blu-ray section. I guess I'll know next week. If they replenish the cds or not."

[rostasi]

Clerk at the local B&N used to work at Tower.

He said he didn't know about any downsizing either...

Picked up the latest Terry Riley for $8

and some Ives symphonies.

I went straight to the boxsets,

but the selection was pathetic -

worse than the Borders stores I've been to.

[Free For All]

I'm even a fan of the Lo

That's it! Banished!

[Big Al]

I had planned on walking out of there with a bunch of OJCs, but after doing the math, the Concord sale is a better deal. So here's what I got instead:

Bobby Hutcherson - STICK-UP

Miles Davis - ON THE CORNER

Miles Davis - JACK JOHNSON

[mjzee]

Thanks for the coupon. I picked up Billie Holiday - The Complete Verve Studio Master Takes. Net price was $37.79.

[rostasi]

I went to another, better stocked, store today.

I bought a copy of the two-disc version of Daydream Nation

(I never bought the CD to replace the LP).

It's amazing the ennui I feel going into these stores nowadays.

The excitement is gone and I don't think it's an "age" thing.

High prices, lack of creativity (in the store selection - not in the "real" world),

and being amidst listless employees and tepid pablum flowing from the speakers

all contribute to this feeling in a major way.

[rostasi]

Got the Bird Verve box for < $75.00.

Been meaning to upgrade from the old LP Box of the 80s & get all the "new" stuff" for, what, 20 years? Seemed like a good time to do so.

You're talking 'bout the 10 CD box right?...and not the metal box thingy?

[JSngry]

Yeah, the 10. What metal box thingy are you talking about?

[David Gitin]

It's amazing the ennui I feel going into these stores nowadays.

The excitement is gone and I don't think it's an "age" thing.

High prices, lack of creativity (in the store selection - not in the "real" world),

and being amidst listless employees and tepid pablum flowing from the speakers

all contribute to this feeling in a major way.

Well said.

[DukeCity]

Yeah, the 10. What metal box thingy are you talking about?

Complete Verve Master Takes

3-disc set in a metal box.

Edited March 30, 2008 by DukeCity

[JSngry]

Yeah, the 10. What metal box thingy are you talking about?

Complete Vere Master Takes

3-disc set in a metal box.

Oh, ok.

Nah, I show no restraint when it come to buying Bird, so none of this "master takes" stuff for me.

Seems fitting, somehow...

[JSngry]

It's amazing the ennui I feel going into these stores nowadays.

The excitement is gone and I don't think it's an "age" thing.

High prices, lack of creativity (in the store selection - not in the "real" world),

and being amidst listless employees and tepid pablum flowing from the speakers

all contribute to this feeling in a major way.

Well said.

And ditto, although I understand the built-in disconnect in going into a "major retail outlet" that can't stay in business carrying the stuff that I don't already have & expecting to find stuff that I don't already have.

But you know what else? Other than the employees, there's no young people in there any more. It's been about 3-5 years since I did the brick-and-mortar thing regularly, but these coupons prompted me to get out and go this week, and that's the first thing I noticed, no young people.

[rostasi]

Yup, I don't see any either...or I see someone who looks like they may be in their 30's

shopping like they're twice that age.

Yes, of course on the Bird - I didn't realize that it was only a $40 boxset.

I saw the 10 disc today at the Preston/Royal store.

[rostasi]

The thing too about the listless employees...

Today, I was speaking with the woman behind the counter

who said that the coupons were a good way to buy boxsets

when you've put off doing so at other times...which I agree -

but then she said that she hardly ever buys any music anymore

and that the last boxset that she ever bought was when

Crossroads (!) first came out.

Wasn't that nearly 20 years ago?

[Big Al]

I went to another, better stocked, store today.

I bought a copy of the two-disc version of Daydream Nation

(I never bought the CD to replace the LP).

It's amazing the ennui I feel going into these stores nowadays.

The excitement is gone and I don't think it's an "age" thing.

High prices, lack of creativity (in the store selection - not in the "real" world),

and being amidst listless employees and tepid pablum flowing from the speakers

all contribute to this feeling in a major way.

Well, this is what I walked out with:

Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (Rhino remaster)

Bobby Hutcherson - STICK UP

Miles Davis - ON THE CORNER

Miles Davis - JACK JOHNSON

Smiths - LOUDER THAN BOMBS

I'd planned on getting a bunch of OJCs, but the Concord deal was still a better deal.

But getting back to the original post, I had the same feeling when I went in there today to make the purchase.

OTOH, I'd gone in there Friday night and was greeted in the music section by a lady who smiled and said, "I see you brought the coupon." She was very helpful.

The girl today, just seemed to be..... there, I guess.

Edited March 31, 2008 by Big Al

[zen archer]

I picked up the Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959) Ray Charles for $85

I have seen Newbury selling used copies for more. Figured it was not

that bad of a deal.

They did have some good jazz cds , i was surprised.

[analogak]

out here in new york the B and Ns had a decent selection. i had a gift certificate i had to use anyway so i grabbed a crazy amount of stuff....

remastered "big fun", remastered "soon over babaluma", "sonny's dream", "woody shaw live volume three", blakey "live at slugs", tyner "horizon", rvg of "symphony for improvisers", maupin "jewel in lotus" which i just had on LP, jamal "epic and okeh" though i might return that since i also found "ponciana" used down the block...more stuff which i might return...a morgan, a desmond, a sun re, a mingus or two...

[paul secor]

There wasn't as much at my local B&N as i expected - hadn't been there in a while - but I filled a few holes in my jazz collection:

Ellington - Piano in the Background

Miles at Carnegie Hall

Blakey - The Witch Doctor

and picked up a few classical sides to help me along with my beginning classical listening:

J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier - Jeno Jando

Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: Petrushka & Le Sacre du Printemps

Ives: Holidays Symphony; The Unanswered Question; Central Park in the Dark - Thomas/CSO

Haven't listened to any yet. My wife will probably set 3 or 4 aside to give me for my birthday - "You're a hard person to buy for" - (She's actually right), so I won't hear some for a number of months. That just gives me something to look forward to.