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Grex > Music2 > #154: Schoolkids II, and Music Retailing |  |
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| 25 new of 247 responses total. |
mcnally
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response 184 of 247:
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May 11 21:43 UTC 2000 |
In the latest high-profile headline in the music industry, the FTC has
apparently reached a settlement with the Big 5 record conglomerates
regarding allegedly anti-competitive advertising practices.
The settlement forbids the now common practice of subsidizing retailers'
advertising costs in exchange for an agreement that retailers will not
advertise reduced prices on most discs. According to reports, the
expected result of the settlement is increased competition among music
retailers and reduced music costs, by as much as $1/disc or more.
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krj
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response 185 of 247:
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May 13 19:11 UTC 2000 |
What few reports have covered is that the resulting reductions in price
are expected to put further downward pressure on the profitability
of small independent CD shops. But most of them are probably doomed
anyway.
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krj
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response 186 of 247:
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May 18 04:16 UTC 2000 |
A two-page letter from owner Jim Leonard announces cutbacks and
reorganization in the SKR empire; this is described as a
"partial liquidation." This letter is posted in the
Liberty Street storefronts. The former SKR Classical storefront
will become "Uptown Music," and will incorporate jazz and world music
as well as classical. Half of today's SKR store, the side which had
the jazz cds, will become "Downtown Music" with the rock, pop, blues,
and everything else. My reading of the message is that the "SKR"
name is going to be discarded, but I'm not sure about that.
The original Schoolkids storefront is going to be let go; right now
it is a clearance outlet for unwanted stock marked down 45%.
The letter also names the five (of eleven) staffers who are going to be
laid off. It mentions that the owners of the "Dubplate Pressure"
store are going to revive that operation in Ypsilanti.
Jim Leonard seems to be complaining that (1) his stores should be seen
as the true heir to Schoolkids, since they kept almost all of the
old wonderful Schoolkids staff;
(2) if customers don't shop at his locally owned store,
it will go away and everyone will have to shop at Borders.
My rude comments later...
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katie
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response 187 of 247:
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May 18 05:20 UTC 2000 |
I always get creeped out when I go in there...it has looked "under
construction" since it changed from Schoolkids to SKR, and they keep
moving the genres around so I can't find anything the next time I go in.
Not a welcoming environment at all.
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carla
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response 188 of 247:
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May 18 06:17 UTC 2000 |
Katie I agree. But even when it *was* under construction, it was still more
inviting than it is now.
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otaking
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response 189 of 247:
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May 18 13:15 UTC 2000 |
Yeah, I used to spend hours in Schoolkids. Now, I cant stay in that place for
5 minutes.
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carla
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response 190 of 247:
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May 18 17:22 UTC 2000 |
Hey Ken, was Mike Perrini on that list of people getting laid off?
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krj
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response 191 of 247:
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May 18 19:43 UTC 2000 |
Carla: I don't know, I did not note down all the staff names.
Katie in resp:187 :: Jim Leonard had some rather exotic plans for
store decor which were never brought to fulfillment. One side of the
store was supposed to be done up in "Neuromancer"-style high-tech
garishness, and the other side was supposed to be done up as a tropical
jungle. I do not know how far along they may have gotten before realizing
the money wasn't there to support these dreams; I was under the vague
impression that they had gotten the construction work underway.
I went to check the SKR stores out this morning. I fished 8 discs
out of the clearance center, mostly pretty good stuff: Den Fule,
John Renbourn & Doris Hederson, Dave Schramm, Original Harmony Creek
Dippers, Planxty, Mary McCaslin, Sonya Hunter, and Odetta. It's
sad if this is the stuff they can't sell.
I ran out of time and brainpower to make sense of the piles of classical
discs which were 45% off. It did seem like the classical bins were
dominated by lesser known performers and composers. Besides the cds
at the "Clearance Outlet," there are more closeouts at SKR Classical.
In the SKR Pop-Rock/Downtown Music store, there was a big 99 cent bin
with some promising items in it. There were also a lot of used discs.
I think the store may be going for a close to 50% new/used mix.
Over at SKR Classical/Uptown Music, I found that well over 1/2 of the
opera stock has been removed. Maybe they're in a box just being moved
from one spot to another. There are more discs marked down 45%
at SKR Classical.
It looks to me like the folk and classical genres are
making up the bulk of the stock being liquidated -- possibly 1/3 to
1/2 of SKR's stock in those fields is being swept out. The rock CD stock
is being given a haircut, and very little jazz is being liquidated.
It does have the feel of a going out of business sale.
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katie
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response 192 of 247:
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May 19 06:12 UTC 2000 |
(Which Mary McCaslin album?) Mary is playing at Green Wood in Oct.
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krj
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response 193 of 247:
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May 19 17:20 UTC 2000 |
I got Mary McCaslin's "Old Friends" out of the bargain bin. I think
there were other McCaslin CDs in there, but I can't be sure.
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krj
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response 194 of 247:
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May 19 20:57 UTC 2000 |
Back to the Minimum Advertised Price policy, resp:184, resp:185 ::
this is from http://www.billboard.com/daily/2000/0518_08.asp,
from a tail end of the story:
"Merchants privately say that the elimination of MAP
rekindles fears that price wars will break out and return
music retail to the unprofitability it suffered from 1994-1996,
before strong MAP policies were adopted and enforced.
"During those price wars, electronics retailers like Best Buy
and Circuit City were selling music at a loss, in an effort
to increase customer traffic for higher-priced electronics
goods. The labels argued that MAP policies would make it
easier for small retailers to compete with the giants, thus
increasing consumer choices."
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krj
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response 195 of 247:
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May 21 04:46 UTC 2000 |
Leslie and I took another trip to the SKR Clearance Outlet today,
since we were going downtown for dinner anyway. There's a new, more
alarming note from Jim Leonard in the window. The discount has been
ratcheted up from 45% to 50%. "The situation is critical," says the
note, and if they don't sell enough clearance CDs the stores could
close in a couple of weeks.
So we did our part. :) I got three CDs which I'd passed over on
the Thursday trip, and it amazed me that they were all still there,
after being on sale at half price for three days; especially
the import reissue of the Kinks' LOLA VS.POWERMAN album. And with
Leslie there to answer questions I pillaged the classical section
and Leslie picked up a bunch of classical vocal discs.
It was 8 pm Saturday night, and there was only one other customer in our
side of the store. It wasn't that no one was downtown: Borders was
pretty crowded.
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void
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response 196 of 247:
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May 22 04:48 UTC 2000 |
htat's skr classical across from borders downtown, right? i may
go check it out tomorrow, if i can convince myself to drive downtown.
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mcnally
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response 197 of 247:
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May 22 18:38 UTC 2000 |
Like most Kinks albums, "Lola Vs. Powerman and the Money-go-round" is
fantastically uneven, but it's well worth having if solely for my favorite
Kinks song, "Apeman"..
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anderyn
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response 198 of 247:
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May 26 13:54 UTC 2000 |
It is quite a bummer to go in there. (We went on Monday night, and I picked
up a Silly Wizard Greatest Hits CD, Tannas, an Irish sea shanty record, and
an old Connie Dover -- all ones that I had been mildly interested in
obtaining, but nothing I would have bought normally.)
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krj
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response 199 of 247:
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Jun 18 04:53 UTC 2000 |
I did not know until tonight that the "SKR Downtown" store was in
the former Annex storefront. The two westernmost SKR storefronts,
the original Schoolkids space and the early '90s expansion,
have been vacated.
I have said for a long time that Ann Arbor has been overbuilt for
CD retailing. But I was not expecting the jolt I got tonight
from the "bummed" item in the Agora conference:
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#977 of 984: by Yay the Happy Whale (otaking) on Sat, Jun 17, 2000 (20:12):
IBB Tower Records is closing at 4PM on Sunday, June 25.
#978 of 984: by Bruin the Bare Bear (bruin) on Sat, Jun 17, 2000 (20:52):
You don't mean the Tower Records on South University in Ann Arbor, do
you?
#979 of 984: by Yay the Happy Whale (otaking) on Sat, Jun 17, 2000 (21:35):
Yes, unfortunately I do.
They claim to be closing temporarily, to make way for UM offices, but one of
the staff members said that was a false hope.
They're having a clearance sale. Anywhere from $2-4 off all CDs. 30% off all
books. 20-30% all DVDs and videos. All sale prives are off the regular prices,
not, the existing sale prices. Guess it's another victim of online sales.
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mcnally
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response 200 of 247:
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Jun 18 05:34 UTC 2000 |
Wow.. I wouldn't have called that one, although it retrospect it
doesn't surprise me. It always seemed like there were not a lot
of people wandering around in there relative to the amount of floor
space they were taking up in what has to be a more expensive location
than places like Best Buy, etc..
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krj
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response 201 of 247:
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Jun 18 07:20 UTC 2000 |
As was pointed out in Agora: the demolition of the Forest St. parking
ramp has to have hurt Tower badly; there is now essentially no public
parking near their store before 6 pm. But I had always thought the
chain was willing to ride this period out.
Still, I had detected the standard sign of retail distress in a CD shop:
the stock was collapsing. In particular, the pop/rock rack space had
been cut back to make more room for geegaws.
I'm still in shock. I have never seen this many CD retail failures,
this fast. I know this city's been overbuilt for CD retailing for at
least five years; but this is supposed to be a good economy.
And I certainly never expected to end up with Borders as the leading
CD retailer in town, in terms of selection.
As I wrote in Agora: for maybe 25 years, beginning with the opening of
Schoolkids, Ann Arbor was (arguably) the best place to
shop for LPs & CDs between Toronto and the west coast.
Friends who were visiting SE Michigan for science fiction
conventions would make pilgrimages to the
Liberty St./State St./South U. area. But with the closing of Tower,
it's over. Ann Arbor will no longer have a significantly better
CD shopping scene than most towns with a Borders and a decent used
store.
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krj
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response 202 of 247:
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Jun 18 07:32 UTC 2000 |
Heh. If you want to read what Grexers thought of the *opening* of
the Ann Arbor Tower, almost nine years ago, it's in the oldmusic
conference, item 17. (item:oldmusic,17 and eventually that link will
become item:music1,17)
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mcnally
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response 203 of 247:
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Jun 18 08:33 UTC 2000 |
Somebody alert the RIAA! This *must* be Napster's fault.. :-p
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mcnally
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response 204 of 247:
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Jun 18 09:18 UTC 2000 |
re #202: I was kind of surprised to see how consistent my Ann Arbor
record store opinions were over the years.. And I was mortified by
the section where several of us were discussing the anticipated
release of an Enya album -- can that be expunged?
If nothing else, it was worth reading for the nostalgic flashback I
got when I came across the responses about the demise of the longbox..
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brighn
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response 205 of 247:
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Jun 18 18:17 UTC 2000 |
#203: You don't think there's the slightest bit of a coincidence that indie
college-city-based CD outlets are going out of business at the same rate that
Napster is spreading?
You're more naive, or in deeper denial, than I thought.
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cyklone
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response 206 of 247:
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Jun 18 18:33 UTC 2000 |
What about the study that showed a decline in such sales before Napster was
created?
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brighn
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response 207 of 247:
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Jun 19 00:08 UTC 2000 |
don't confuse the issue with facts and statistics, Cyklone.
this is an emotional issue.
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krj
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response 208 of 247:
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Jun 20 07:19 UTC 2000 |
I'll write more about my pillaging of Tower tomorrow. There's still
a lot of stuff worth digging through, since the sale is just a
standard Tower storewide sale; Tower doesn't have to liquidate
the stock, since they can just ship it to another store.
Even after knocking $4 off Tower's inflated prices, there were
folk and world music items which would be cheaper at Elderly
Instruments. And the new Neil Young album had a "base price"
sticker of $19.99, though they were selling it for a few dollars
cheaper than that.
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