Happy days as Tower Records returns to New York
NewsIn a swirl of gloomy news, we are delighted to report that Tower Records is planning to open a space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where punters can purchase limited-edition vinyl records and attend intimate music sessions.
The intention of Tower Labs is for artists and bands to host personal gatherings with their community, similar to a backstage experience,” says Tower Records’ president, Danny Zeijdel. ;In an increasingly digital world, it is imperative for artists to have a physical space where they can connect and create.’
The venue was due to open yesterday.
Tower was once the world’s favourite record store. Over the past decade, it has survived only in Japan.
Yes!
Oooh, you’ve re-opened old wounds. I used to haunt Tower Records (and HMV) every time I went to NYC – the classical rooms were marvelous places to browse. Same thing at the Sunset Blvd store. Long gone, and I doubt this new venture will re-create the past. Somehow, browsing online isn’t the same experience.
I lament the passing of CD and record stores. That means buying through Amazon and I’ve had appalling experience with them recently and will never buy this way again.
I agree sometimes amazon are not so good.
I have a record /CD shop in Manchester. They
Sell 2nd hand CDS and vinyl but if an item is
Faulty they return your money. Very nice people
Do deal with
Sue sonata-try Presto Music
Thanks very much for that tip!!
I’ll second that – Presto Music are great!
I spent a lot of hours in my youth at the Tower stores in Westwood, California and Washington, DC. Record stores seem to be popping up; I even found one selling used lps in Whitefish, Montana. There is some demand, so they may be able to make a go of it.
I was in the Classical Dept. at the Alexandria, Va. store — happy days, the peak CD era, early 1990s. No vinyl in the story by the. But I am delighted to see the return to NYC. My girlfriend at NYU had to compete for my attention with the landmark store on Broadway which had the most extensive classical selection of anywhere I’ve been in the world, short of Ludwig Beck in Munich. And they had vinyl into the 1990s, which you could sample inshore on their record players! Ahhh, bygone days….
Yes, I visited NY from the UK in 2006 and I was bowled over by the sheer size and scope that the Tower Record store on Broadway had to offer. The Classical department was phenomenal! Many enjoyable hours were spent there. We used to have a very good branch here in London at Piccadilly Circus (the old Swan and Edgar building), but that ceased to trade many years ago. Most of the retailers who occupied the streets of Central London, and who specialised in Classical music have vanished. So sad!
Wrong. There’s a Tower in Dublin that’s been there for ten years or more.
Great news, but somewhat modified rapture if the implication that the new store will sell only vinyl, not CDs, is correct. For Luddite classical CD fans like me, the fifth floor of Tower Records in Tokyo is the nearest place to heaven on earth.
Even in Japan where I happen to write these lines from, the tower rec classical department has shredded as peau de chagrin these last years, good news it reopens as a niche somewhere else….
Good news. Let us hope they open in London
And other cities.
I worked in the classical section at Tower Records in DC for a few years. I loved the job for many reasons, not the least of it was that it provided me and numerous other aspiring young artists with health insurance and flexible schedules! I am still friends with some of my co-workers. We formed deep connections and the daily battle over the play stack is one of my best memories. I am thrilled to see that not all is lost!
Doesn’t sound like a full fledged comeback though – more like a pop up store for the hipsters…..
Gotta start somewhere — if you know the story of Tower, there was no master plan for them to become what they did.
“The intention of Tower Labs is for artists and bands to host personal gatherings with their community, similar to a backstage experience”….
Having worked at both the Tower Records Classical Annex and Tower Stonestown locations in San Francisco, it seems to me that as described, the “Tower Labs” concept doesn’t sound like the record and CD stores I used to work at.
Yes, we had in-store appearances and meet-and-greets: is that what is meant by the “personal gatherings” and “backstage experience”?
If so, it’s just new jargon for the same old activities – get artists into the store to schmooze the customers and help move their product.
And I’d be very interested to know who now owns that business and who is in charge of day-to-day operations. Is Danny Zeijdel the owner or just the showrunner?
Just hope that “Tower Labs” does not mean a return of the Solomon family and its legendary incompetence in business matters.
BTW, as far as I know, the Tokyo Tower Records is owned by someone who bought the rights to the Tower trademarks and labeling at the bankruptcy sale of the original Tower Records business, and who has no connection with the original owner.
The 15 Tower Records stores in Japan were sold in the early 2000s to a Japanese company in order to pay down the debt that eventually drove the U.S. company into liquidation. There are now 85 Tower Records stores in Japan.
Thanks for the info, Ray, and for confirming my facts!
I knew the Japan Towers were sold off at some point due to the bankruptcy, which, BTW, was brutally handled – all the Tower employees in the US lost their jobs and most if not all of the record distributors (who were fronting product to Tower in an effort to keep it afloat) got stiffed.
I also knew that the Japan Towers no longer have any connection with the Solomon family.
Are you also an ex-Tower worker?
– regards, Greg
Yes, I was employed by Tower for 32 years — 12 years in San Francisco (Columbus & Bay) and 20 in NYC (4th & Broadway).
As I mentioned, I was at the Stonestown store, then at the Classical Annex (Columbus & Bay, across the street from the “main store”). I can’t recall your name from my years at the Annex, but I may very well have spoken to you on the telephone from SF!
It’s certainly a small world….
And you are a legend to all who shopped there!
It was over the phone with a Tower clerk that I hummed a tune and he told me what piece it was.
I am too embarrassed to name that tune now, let’s just say it is a saccharine tune whose composer is not obvious. Yet, for all its popularity, back then, I would not have been able to identify it any other way.
Today of course, one can hum into a Google app.
Fond memories, but … the state of the planet cannot justify more plastic.
And we know darn well, CDs have no re-sell or inheritance value, so when we pass, they’ll just get thrown into the garbage by whoever is stuck with them.
Sammy you have no idea the cd value
Bear family box sets are very expensive and
New or second hand.
,mosaic box sets are expensive because they
Are deleted. Ex £150 for 3cds in a box set
With the booklet. I told my dependents to put
Them in auction when iam 6ft under ground
I recently found a store that has a respectable and interestingly curated selection of classical CDs, along with a small number of vinyl recordings. It is the Bider & Tanner bookshop in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Very friendly and helpful staff (I also get quite a lot of books in German from them and regularly ask for help) and they have a points collecting scheme for regular buyers.
Delightful posts, what a joy to read them, except for Sammy who brought me back to reality, sigh!! The Tower in Denver was my refuge.
This is not a re-opening. It is no store, to speak of. Sad to say.