I thought I was dreaming.  I stopped in a Tower Records in Davis, CA, and
found that their entire Classical Section was 30% off.  It turns out that
they are liquidating the section to make room for other merchandise.  Lucky
day for me--but was the delirious laughter I was hearing not my own, but
Norman Lebrect's from above, heralding the End?

Probably not.  While it is rather disappointing that the CM section of a
Tower Records would have to fold in a college town, it's important to note
that a Border's opened down the street with a very large and inclusive CM
section, and Border's offers their CD's at $15.99 rather than Tower's
$17.99 list.  Not only that, but Sacramento, eleven miles away, has five
Towers, two with stand-alone CM sections; two Borders, and one Virgin
Megastore.

I don't think that one of the Seven Seals has been broken in Davis.

However, Tower has introduced two new policies that have lured me back into
their business.  The CDs may be $17.99, but you can exchange them, open(!),
for a one-time credit towards another.  I've used this privilege three
times, and the employee has been fine about it--I didn't sense any extra
vapor on his nose ring that would betray hidden feelings of annoyance.

The other new offering, at least in Berkeley and Davis, is a used CD
section and buy-back program.  I've mentioned on here many times how much
I enjoy the well-stocked used CD stores in the Bay Area.  The treasure hunt
atmosphere and excellent prices have led me to make some very aesthetically
daring purchases--Bach, Tallis, Schumann...and look, now I like these guys.

I understand that range and depth of CM offered by an *independently-owned*
used CD store in an area less cosmopolitan than the Bay Area might be
a little underwhelming--the Bay Area has a large concentration of CM
enthusiasts--but what if a *chain* like Tower replicated the concept by
initiating a new/used buy-back program? (The advantage is that a chain
store, like Tower or Borders, imports a broad selection of CM to relatively
smaller towns, and I'd predict that the quality of such an offering would
spill down into the adjacent used CD stock.)

It seems to me that this is the route that Tower is going, at least in
a few stores.  With the new one-time exchange policy and the new/used
buy-back program, I'm beginning to get excited about the store again, and
I'm being more daring in my purchases there, which means I spend more.  A
question for the business-minded:  If the large chain stores *do* initiate
a CM buyback program and offer used CDs as well as new, would this practice
hurt or help the CM industry as a whole?

John Smyth