Tower Records: Let The Pillaging Begin!
Now that Tower Records stores around the country are selling off their wares, fans are trying to nab some good fire-sale discounts (“Ooh! This Keyshia Cole CD single is only $3.49!”). In L.A., though, there’s a very special type of fan browsing the aisles–the dickhead-collector type who likes to complain about everything:
“The first sign I saw that something was wrong with this picture was the sign an employee was holding up in the parking lot of the Buena Park Tower, as I pulled in on Saturday afternoon,” said Dave Schmerler, of Westminster. ” ‘Up to 30% off,’ it proclaimed. Already, my hopes for half-off, and then some, were dashed. And that pesky ‘up to’ had me worried.”
On learning that the initial discount for CDs and DVDs was 10%, Schmerler said, “I realized that, even with the 10% discount, I would be paying way more than Amoeba prices. I mean, the average disc price was an astronomical $17.98, so it was still over $16 — before sales tax — per CD! I put back seven and bought one…. I left thinking that Tower doesn’t even know how to go out of business properly. No wonder they went out of business.”
The guy has a good point–Tower’s price points always seemed a bit loopy in the $9.99-an-album download era–but that said, it’s usually bad form to bad-mouth the body at the funeral. Especially when, according to the article, 3,000 employees will be out of a job soon.
Speaking of which, there’s a gag order on Tower employees talking to the press, but we’d love to hear from you–anonymously, of course. Feel free to drop a line at tips@idolator.com, and while you’re at it, give us the security code for the register.
A time to mourn, a time to bargain hunt [LA Times]
