Well, dear readers, I come to bury Tower Records, not to praise it. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I come to bury not to praise. Twenty years ago I would have praised. But, I’m afraid the writing was on the wall for Tower Records and was on the wall for at least ten years. During that ten years, they filed for bankruptcy protection at least three times, stiffing their creditors in major ways. Their creditors, the labels and distributors of same, were between a rock and a hard place and also between a hard place and a rock. They couldn’t withhold new releases and Tower knew it – so, the distributors just shipped more and more titles and sometimes paid and sometimes didn’t. On top of that, they were cocky. Always cocky. I once witnessed a security guard almost putting a suspected theft of one CD through the front door of the store – I am not exaggerating – he almost put this guy through a plate glass door. I reported the security guard – Tower didn’t care. So, why was this time the final time? Because they simply didn’t make an effort to keep up with the times, namely online retailers. Online, people could could get CDs and DVDs for at least twenty percent off, sometimes much more. Had Tower had the brains to routinely offer twenty percent off everything, I believe their loyal customers would have stayed loyal. But, not Tower – full price for most items in the store. Even if they did twenty percent, it was only for a short period of time. Well, who is going to pay list price. Also, of late, their selection got worse and worse because the distributors finally could take no more and stopped shipping new releases. In the end it wasn’t worth it for them, because Tower was ordering so few units anyway (obviously, on major titles they ordered what they needed to order).
So, in their death throes and awaiting liquidation, what does Tower do? When Aron’s decided to close their doors, they did what they needed to do. They started with twenty-five percent off everything, then went more and more as the weeks went by. They were able to get rid of almost everything in the store. I walked into Tower today – the big Tower on Sunset. I started at the video annex – the sign says “Going Out of Business – everything must go!” And what bargains are they offering? Everything in the store (and that includes the classical annex and the main store) is back to full list price – off of that price they are giving ten percent off. Are they joking? They have also systematically removed every import disc from the store – therefore, there was nothing remotely of interest to me. My guess is when they see how stupid what they’re doing is and how ineffective it is, then they’ll start offering more reasonable discounts and they might actually get rid of some stock. It would be nice if some of that money found its way back to their creditors, but it’s doubtful. The shame is, in its early days Tower was a marvelous, friendly store, where people would meet and rifle through LPs and then CDs – there was a real camaraderie there and it never seemed like a corporate chain in those days. Then it all changed and they got cocky and less personal and that was the beginning of the death knell for them. I’m always sad to see stores like this bite the dust, but I’m afraid the rest will follow soon. HMV, of course, already is gone, and I think Virgin is next in line. Sadly, we’re all going to be forced into online shopping – and the fact is, when online is easier and simpler than shopping at stores, you know something is awry. I hope other chains learn the lesson of Tower – care about your customers, and keep the stores personal and friendly. It’s really the only way anymore.
My goodness, what a long and winding rant that was. That just went on and on like a Tower-ing inferno, didn’t it? Oh, well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because I’ve got a non-stop day ahead of me and I must get my beauty sleep.
Yesterday, for example, I had lots of little things to do, but nothing major, save for working with Mr. Grant Geissman for a while. Today, on the other hand, I have schedules to go over in the morning, then a phoner with Cissy Wechter about her book, the two production meetings and a meeting after that. I don’t think I’ll get home much before seven and I suspect I won’t have time to eat before then.
Last night, I did manage to finish watching a motion picture on DVD entitled Beloved Infidel, a region 2 DVD from faraway France. Beloved Infidel purports to tell the tale of the romance between columnist Sheila Graham and novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. It’s a real potboiler, not so well written, but it does have the star power of Mr. Gregory Peck (not such a good role for him) and Miss Deborah Kerr (who is, as always, wonderful). The film is directed by Mr. Henry King, who never met a film under two hours. It just goes on and on. The photography is handsome, and Franz Waxman’s score is suitably lush, which is appropriate since Mr. Peck spends much of the latter half of the film playing one. I gather that the screenplay has nothing to do with the reality of the relationship portrayed. The transfer has great color and is pretty sharp and pleasing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, do errands, have a phoner with Cissy and the publisher – Cissy And The Publisher – that sounds like a children’s book, doesn’t it – attend three meetings and then come home to sit on my couch like so much fish. Today’s topic of discussion: When you were young, what were your favorite stores to hang out in? Record stores, department stores, book stores – where did you have the most fun, where were you treated like family, and which stores do you miss most of all? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we?