I have access to two very good Tower stores, one in San Francisco's
fishermen's wharf and the other in the city's Stonestown shopping center.
The fisherman's wharf store is quite comprehensive, at least, compared to
other stores in the area, and actually has sales people who know something
about classical music.

But I've come to use Tower only for single our double purchases.  It's no
easy thing to just "pop over" to the store; the prices are unreasonably
high; and the selection is always doubtful.  For serious collecting, I
either use Compact Disc World in New Jersey (by phone of fax) or use CDWord
on the internet.

No one I know beats Compact Disc World's prices, and even if an item is
not in stock, they can usually get it for you in a matter of a week.  Their
flat shipping rate and no interstate sales tax makes this my first choice.
If my needs are less pressing than Tower but sooner than Compact Disc
World, I find CDWorld is the fastest, least expensive online retailer.
A distant third is Music Boulevard.

D. Stephen Heersink
San Francisco
[log in to unmask]