Ron Ackermann wrote:

>In Washington, DC, Tower has never had any real competition except from
>Serenade Music which closed it's doors when the owners decided to retire.

I used to like Serenade because our office was just across the street
from it.  It had a good selection of lesser known labels and older
performances of pre-LP days.  It also sold CDs of Metropolitan Opera
recordings (including several different Flagstad/Melchior *Tristans*) not
otherwise available, I understand, except from the Met directly.  Except
for occasional sales, however, their prices, while maybe not "predatory"
were high.  It wasn't the place to pick up bargains.

Walter Meyer