The demise of retail music stores.

[BeBop]

...and yet, in a few (very few) places, like Oakland and Salt Lake City, I can think of a close to a half dozen new shops. Not that some old one's didn't close too.

[Tom 1960]

I used to visit a friend in San Diego for close to 10 years. While in town I always made a point of visiting the Tower Records store located next to the Sports Arena. It was just a simple one floor store which had a great selection of music. A good number of jazz titles I bought from that store. I usually stopped by at least 3 times while I was in town. Maybe not the highlight of my whole trip, but it ranked pretty damn high. Nowadays, the only thing that comes close to matching the same level of excitement is visiting Newbury Comics in the Boston area. Otherwise, it's pretty much online these days. Not the same.

[ejp626]

Well, I do really miss the Tower on Broadway near Washington Square Park. When I was in New York, I tried to drop by. J & R is nearly as good, but doesn't have the same memories and associations. I never went to the Towers in Chicago all that often, though the one on Clark actually did have a very nice jazz section/selection but I wasn't buying many new CDs at that time. On the whole, I don't miss retail stores. What I really miss are good used CD stores. There was a narrow window in Chicago -- maybe 1998 to 2004 -- where I would be able to walk to 5 or 6 and browse through the racks and always come up with something. They have all closed in that neighborhood except Reckless (and across the city there are not many left). Between rent increases and on-line competition, they just can't make it. In smaller cities where the rent isn't as steep, they seem to hold on a bit longer.

[Jazzmoose]

...and yet, in a few (very few) places, like Oakland and Salt Lake City, I can think of a close to a half dozen new shops. Not that some old one's didn't close too.

Thanks; I needed another reason to miss the Bay Area and feel miserable...

[kinuta]

There are still a lot of good record shops here with a pretty stellar selection available. The small mom and pop shops in the suburbs have all but vanished though. On my occasional trips back to UK I'm quite stunned at the dismal selection of cds, and find it hardly surprising that purchasing on line is taking over there.

Edited March 28, 2009 by kinuta

[Hot Ptah]

There has been a resurgence of sorts in Kansas City among the small, independently owned used music stores. Zebedees, Vinyl Renaissance and NeedMoreDiscs all have expanded and improved their jazz selections in the past year, both in the CD and vinyl areas. At the first two stores mentioned, the staff is quite knowledgable about jazz and will talk to you about it in a friendly way.

Half Price Books has three locations in our metro area and a fourth in nearby Lawrence, Kansas. Their selection of jazz albums is often quite amazing. I am finding that the staff at two of the stores is also quite knowledgable and will talk to me in a friendly way, now that they have seen me often. They seem to be mostly English major college students who all buy a lot of books from the store.

[sidewinder]

On my occasional trips back to UK I'm quite stunned at the dismal selection of cds, and find it hardly surprising that purchasing on line is taking over there.

With the exception of one or two great little jazz specialist stores it has, I'm afraid. And as for vinyl - forget it.

[BillF]

There are still occasional rays of light - as, for instance, in Fopp this afternoon where they're offering classic jazz in 2CD packs for £3. Most well-known artists are included. I particularly noticed the Rollins pack of Saxophone Colossus, Newk's Time and Tenor Madness and the Parker one of 50 key studio tracks!!!

Edited September 6, 2011 by BillF

[Hardbopjazz]

There are still occasional rays of light - as, for instance, in Fopp this afternoon where they're offering classic jazz in 2CD packs for £3. Most well-known artists are included. I particularly noticed the Rollins pack of Saxophone Colossus, Newk's Time and Tenor Madness and the Parker one of 50 key studio tracks!!!

I guess even after clearing a mine of all its gold, you can still fine a few nuggets every now and then.

I really do miss the days of record stores.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Hardbopjazz

[Head Man]

I really do miss the days of record stores.

...and flared jeans...sideburns...miniskirts.....the list is endless.

[Dan Gould]

Actually the things I miss from the days of record stores would be pets.com and Monica Lewinsky.

[Head Man]

Actually the things I miss from the days of record stores would be pets.com and Monica Lewinsky.

In that order?

[Hardbopjazz]

On Wednesday I was at J&R in NYC. I picked up "Road Shows 2." I noticed that there jazz section was smaller that in the past. Is this the end of one of the only outlet where you can go and peruse through the inventory before buying. It really sucks. Everything seems to be MP3 downloads now a days.

Edited September 16, 2011 by Hardbopjazz

[ejp626]

I guess my experience with brick and mortar is mixed. I do miss the days of the mid-sized shops that specialized in used CDs -- four or so around Lincoln Park/Lakeview. But then my experience at the Chicago shops that did not specialize in jazz and mixed new and used CDs (Dr. Wax and Reckless) has been decidedly mixed with clerks playing truly horrid music at ear-shattering volumes and being just general shits to deal with (making you wait 10 minutes before deigning to answer a 5 second question). Of course, not every clerk was this bad, but many were. Sadly, the store with the worst track record (in my opinion) -- Reckless -- is basically the sole survivor here in Chicago. In the jazz specialist category, I personally much prefer dealing with the folks at Dusty Groove than Jazz Record Mart.

But if I wasn't trying to sell off physical product, I would probably never set foot in a brick and mortar again -- at least certainly not one that was primarily focused on rock/pop with a small jazz section.