NEW YORK - The news that Tower Records is going the way of, well, records struck a dissonant note with customers as they learned that the 46-year-old music retailer has been sold to a liquidator that will close all the stores. "I feel very sad about it," said Ladd Fraternale, shopping in the country section at Tower rsquo;s East Village store in Manhattan this week. "I think they have a great selection here and the service is good.
"
While no firm date has been set for the stores to close, "Going Out of Business" signs went up this week at Tower rsquo;s 89 stores in 20 states and the chain rsquo;s 3,000 employees have been told they will be laid off.
The company owes creditors about 200 million and filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in August. In its filing, Tower said it has been hurt by an industrywide decline in music sales, downloading of online music and competition from big-box stores such as Wal-Mart.
CDs were 10 percent off this week, still not a bargain. At 10 percent off the list price of 18.99, Beyonce rsquo;s "B rsquo;day" was selling for 17.
09, compared with 9.99 on Amazon. Great American President Andy Gumaer said the discount will increase over the six to eight weeks it takes to close the stores.
At the New York store, Larry Kirwan, lead singer of the Irish band Black 47, was scouring the rock bins and mourning Tower rsquo;s imminent loss.
"It rsquo;s a bad day for music," Kirwan said. "It rsquo;s a bad day for independent bands.
...
Right from the beginning, even before we were signed with labels they carried us. They rsquo;ve been good to musicians."
Russ Solomon founded Tower in Sacramento, Calif.
, in 1960 and opened the company rsquo;s landmark store on West Hollywood rsquo;s Sunset Boulevard in 1969. As part of the bankruptcy auction, the Sunset property will be sold for 12 million.
Outside the Sunset Boulevard store, a marquee with a message and REM lyrics said it all: "It rsquo;s the end of the world as we know it.
Thanks for your loyalty." A mock gravestone and Halloween decoration had a single word scratched into it: "Tower."
Norman Labby, who for 20 years drove across town to go to Tower for jazz and classical albums, said he was "frustrated, angry and depressed" that Tower was closing.
"I don rsquo;t own a computer, I don rsquo;t know how to work one and don rsquo;t plan to buy one," he said, holding a bag full of CD rsquo;s and tapes. "I rsquo;m disenfranchised for the umpteenth time.
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