Horrible Chain Store Promises First Good Location

Just about a two and a half months after the company’s sale and liquidation were announced, the Tower Records on South Street closed yesterday after seven years.

Inquirer music critic Dan DeLuca writes about the factors in music store closings: MP3s, big chains like Target and Best Buy pricing new releases at $10, etc. Some small stores — a.k.a. music on Seconds Street — are still doing well, kind of serving up CDs and a “culture” that possibly makes you feel cool when you go inside. (DeLuca references High Fidelity, which sounds about right.)

He also lets us know just what’s going in the old Tower Records location on Broad Street, which did some of the company’s best business.

f.y.e. spokesman John Sullivan said this week that Trans World had bought the lease of the Tower store on Broad Street, and plans to open a store as early as February. He said this store - the chain’s area flagship - would be more music-centric than most, with “a good classical selection” to rival Tower’s.

A good f.y.e.? I’ll believe it when I see it.

Digital era sounds death knell for some, not all, retailers [Inquirer]

Tower Of Terror

Apparently, the Center City Tower Records is going the way of the Center City HMV — remember them? — and closing up shop, probably to make way for another Dunkin Donuts or three. Actually, all the Towers are closing, so maybe there are cheap DVDs to be had.

But, if you didn’t catch the Spaceboy closing sale, you can get all your Beyonce, Dave Matthews and Fat Joe CD’s at up to thirty percent off! (I’m not sure on this, but I think everything must go.) I know that many of you have probably not purchased a CD in a store since sometime after the Battle of Waterloo, but, if you didn’t know, a CD can be “ripped” into mp3s or other digital formats! (Well, maybe not on CDs with copy protection, although that usually can be broken in about a half-second.)

Anyway, you’ll notice — or maybe not — that the sign in the photo is being held up by a person, who will join the Children International and DNC kids on Broad Streeet every day, attempting to get our money in various ways. But, yes, this is this type of advertising — officially, the “have some guy hold your stupid sign all day” method — is usually used by stores in the Franklin Mills Mall.

Which can only mean one thing: All those people buying condos downtown are people from the Far Northeast, and, dammit, they want things to feel kind of the same. Egads.

Tower Records, R.I.P. [Blinq]