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Re: [ARSCLIST] Tower Records
Actually, from about 1993-2001 there were 2 in MI, Ann Arbor and East Lansing - the EL store shut down in late spring, 2001, the Ann Arbor one a few months before that - from what I've read, Tower was already operating in some kind of bankruptcy protection before they even opened the EL store.
Based on my experience as a customer and 1 day as an employee (for annual inventory), they were very poorly run, with very high prices (list price or higher), way more space than was necessary for the amount of stock they had and, from what I heard, very high theft rates, both internally and with the general public. Some departments like blues and jazz had pretty good selections (due to some knowledgeable local employees), but for me it was always a place of last resort, where I'd shop only if I couldn't find something anyplace else. It was great that they had a broader inventory than most places, but it was never a 'record hunter's nirvana.'
Anyone in Michigan who'd like to check out a great used store should try Encore, on Liberty St. in Ann Arbor - by far the best store (new or used) that I'm aware of in Michigan, run by the former owner of the once great Car City Records in the Detroit area.
Gene
Jack Palmer <vdalhart@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
We only had one Tower in Michigan but I used to travel to Ann Arbor
frequently as I enjoyed shopping there. It closed several years ago.
Jack
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cary Ginell"
To:
Sent: Monday, January 01, 2007 2:41 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Tower Records
>
>
> In a message dated 1/1/2007 10:59:17 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
> smolians@xxxxxxxxx writes:
>
> I understand that the Rockville, MD Tower store is being reopened under
> new
> ownership. The rumor I heard (from an employee) is that interests from
> Everest Records are behind it.
>
> Bernie Solomon, who owns Everest Records, is related to the late Maynard
> and
> Seymore Solomon who owned Vanguard, et seq.
>
> Russ Solomon founded Tower and recently expressed an interest in buying
> the
> chain post-bankrupcy.
>
> Is Russ Solomon related to the Vanguard/Everest clan?
>
> If this is a development, what is transpiring?
>
> Steve Smolian
>
>
> I don't know, but when I was in San Francisco last week, the Tower at the
> corner of Columbus & Bay, which I first frequented in 1973, stands empty
> and
> abandoned. Their marquee read: Thank You SF for a Great 38 Years. The
> first
> record I bought there was the 2-LP Columbia set, "The Bob Wills
> Anthology,"
> which triggered my interest in western swing. That was a great Tower. At
> least it
> was still standing so I could take one last picture of it.
>
> Cary Ginell
> Origin Jazz Library
> www.originjazz.com
>
>
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