Tower Records to be liquidated; 3,000 are expected to lose jobs

Seattle-Times ^ | 10/7/2006 | Randall Chase

[Proud_USA_Republican]

WILMINGTON, Del. — After a lengthy auction stretching over two days, a federal bankruptcy judge on Friday approved the sale of California-based Tower Records to Great American Group, which plans to liquidate the music retailer.

After almost 30 hours of what attorneys described as "robust" and "vigorous" bidding, Great American won with an offer of $134.3 million, beating Trans World Entertainment, which had hoped to continue operating at least some Tower stores.

Peter Gurfein, an attorney representing Tower Records, said the company will be sold for an aggregate of $150 million, including the sale of various leases and properties.

Gurfein said Great American plans to begin the liquidation process and going out of business sales today, which eventually will result in the elimination of the jobs of some 3,000 Tower employees.

[LanPB01]

I knew one of them had committed suicide. I remember seeing a short article online sometime in either 2000 or 2001 saying the rest of the group were going to re-unite, but I guess that went nowhere.

[proxy_user]

Vinyl records are stil availble. I have bought many new releases lately, and you can also get expensive reissues on 180-gram vinyl.

[LibLieSlayer]

They still press vinyl today, but it is for audiophiles... and you would not believe what some will pay for that form of recording!

LLS

[JCEccles]

They still press vinyl today, but it is for audiophiles... and you would not believe what some will pay for that form of recording!

People who still run the catridge/stylus signal into a separate all-tube pre-amp and power amp equalizer component rig en route to a set of massive, room-hogging Klipschorns?

Analog nirvana.

[Stentor]

Maybe they can get jobs following the Dave Matthews Band around cleaning up band scat

It should be an easier job. I understand the band bus has acquired a Nordon bomb sight.

[randog]

Who wants to go to Tower Records to have your musical sense insulted by a the clerk, who is invariably a surly teen, emo kid, or a liberal who hasn't bathed in months?

LOL! That was my first thought when I read the article.

[randog]

Goofy audiophiles insist that vinyl is superior to digital.

Perhaps in the sense that the distortion adds an element to the sound the way a tube audio amplifier does.

[RayChuang88]

Goofy audiophiles insist that vinyl is superior to digital.

They obvious haven't listened to a properly-mastered HDCD-format Compact Disc, SACD or DVD-Audio disc. SACD have excellent sound quality because by drastically increasing the sampling rate for the audio, which eliminates the harsh-sound treble of Compact Discs (you have to hear cymbals or violins mastered on an SACD--they are phenomenally clear).

But getting back on topic, the fall of the Tower chain is a combination of the rise of book superstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders Books (who could buy books at much lower prices than Tower could), big-box retail chains like Best Buy and Wal-Mart (who could buy CD's and DVD's at much lower prices than Tower could), and the dramatic rise in Internet sales through Amazon.com, Buy.com and several others. I'm going to miss the Tower stores on Watt and El Camino and downtown on Broadway and 16th.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Who could forget the Bone Daddies, an LA bar band that almost made it big.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Goofy audiophiles insist that vinyl is superior to digital. It may acoustically, but I'll take the durability and portability of the CD and digital formats.

---

Audiophile vinyl was superior in some important respects to early CD playback, no doubt, for those with excellent equipment (including ears).

[Mrs.Liberty]

Tower on Sunset....I spent alot of Friday/Saturday nights there, people watching and flipping through the bins back when I was an undergrad at UCLA....

[Theo]

That's what I'm hoping!

[marajade]

That's too bad. Tower Records is my hometown, Sacto CA, owned.

I can remember spending hours there at the store in Sac near the Tower theater browsing through record after record.

[marajade]

"I'm going to miss the Tower stores on Watt and El Camino
..."

OMG I rented a dingy little apartment near that store in the early 80s.

[RayChuang88]

Nowadays, you end up at Best Buy, Wal-Mart or Fry's Electronics in my area looking for CD's and DVD's, especially on Tuesdays with new releases.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Stumped me.

[marajade]

I prefer itunes. 99 cents for a download for a song I want rather than a whole CD at 16 dollars for a bunch I don't.

[null and void]

I remember when it was Music City...

[Landru]

"What is a Gin Blossom?"

The flower of a Gin Berry & the berries used to make Gin.

...I think. :o)