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Music fans in mourning as Tower Records spins into final weeks of 46-year run |
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Written by asap
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Saturday, 14 October 2006 |
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A glimpse at why Tower Records is closing its stores can be found in its "going out of business" sale.
CDs were 10 percent off this week, meaning Beyonce's "B'day" was selling for $17.09. That same CD is selling for $9.99 on Amazon.com.
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CAUSE FOR CLOSURE
The 46-year-old music retailer was unable to compete with downloading, online retailers and big-box stores like Wal-Mart. It was sold for $134 million to a liquidator that will close all 89 of its stores within the next six to eight weeks. Its 3,000 employees have been told they will be laid off.
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TOWER'S HISTORY
Russ Solomon founded Tower in Sacramento, Calif., in 1960 and opened the company's landmark store on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard in 1969. As part of the bankruptcy auction, the Sunset property will be sold for $12 million.
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LOYALISTS RESPOND
At the New York store, Larry Kirwan, lead singer of the Irish band Black 47, was scouring the rock bins and mourning Tower's imminent loss: "It's a bad day for music. It's a bad day for independent bands. ... Right from the beginning, even before we were signed with labels they carried us. They've been good to musicians."
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