This is not your father's Newbury Comics

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by kwadguy, Mar 18, 2014.

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  1. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I found some some good discs at the Newbury Street store back in the fall.
     
  2. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA

    The Newbury in Alewife opened AFTER you worked there...Somewhere around '00 or so...Huge store, tons of free parking. What was not to like? (It was where the Trader Joes is now). After that, they moved across the street to a store about 1/3 the size (where Panera Bread is now).

    The Tower in Back Bay was fantastic. Super busy every night of the year, great selection, people who knew music working there. One of the flagship stores of the entire chain. The HMV in Harvard Square was great when it opened, too...A live DJ, tons of floor space...Terrible prices, except for sales, but that's just how HMV rolls. But they usually had enough stuff on sale (especially the overstock stuff) to make it interesting...Nuggets is still around.

    The Coop...Talk to someone old enough and they'll shed some tears. Great place for music back when it was run and owned independently. Huge selection, super knowledgable. When the Coop sold out to Barnes and Noble, the music stuff made a quick and sad exit...
     
  3. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member

    I remember being amazed a dozen years ago at the HUGE store they had at Alewife. And I'll always regret not snagging the CD box set of the complete recordings of Beacon Street Union they had for sale in that store once upon a time.:sigh:
     
  4. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Newbury Comics and the Coop in Harvard Square were my hangouts in the early 80's - the Top 40 was great, with Prince, Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bowie and the like, and the "alternative" scene with REM, the Police, Talking Heads, New Order all making commercial breakthroughs was exciting. Miss those places and miss those days.
     
  5. Luckless Pedestrian

    Luckless Pedestrian Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire, USA
    Well on the other hand all that other crap makes a trip to the mall tolerable for me, and serves to distract my wife and daughter for a time while I can go through the vinyl - not the greatest selection, but still my only option for new vinyl within 30 minutes drive, so it's a compromise I can live with. Also the store is always busy so it seems to be working out for them.

    Incidentally, it's a bit of a hike from the Nashua area but I was surprised recently to find a small but thoughtfully chosen selection of new vinyl at the Toadstool bookstore in Peterborough NH.
     
  6. zen archer

    zen archer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston Ma.usa
    One Saturday my wife and I drove up too the Alewife store and Cyndi Lauper was playing in the store. Kat Dyson was with here her playing guitar, Dyson was part of Prince's band during Emancipation tour.

    Out of all of their stores I would vote the Alewife the best, even better than the Natick store. Alewife just had a great selection, especially for Jazz.
     
  7. zen archer

    zen archer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston Ma.usa
    Tower records Jazz floor was fantastic, though a bit pricey. I would peruse the selection at Tower and then head to Looney Tunes, Nuggets and Planet Records to find them used and cheaper.
     
  8. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Yeah, I was there for that concert with my then small daughter...
     
    zen archer likes this.
  9. steveharris

    steveharris Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Hey Mofo`s All Newbuerry stores are having this big sale saturday and Sunday 25% of everything in the entire store in celebreation of their 38th anniversary.Check out the Norwood store for some vinyls Yo!:drool:

    ............This message brought to you and others by Newbury comics for universal domination(of course)!Not by independent audiophile obsessive collector types so you can get a good deal!!!:kilroy:
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2014
  10. murphywmm

    murphywmm Senior Member

    Here in Canada, HMV is starting to carry a lot of this crap too, although they are still primarily carrying music and movies. Funnily enough though, whenever I go into one of their stores, I never see anybody in the clothing or plastic crap sections.
     
  11. SoporJoe

    SoporJoe Forum Resident

    Location:
    British Columbia
    I never see anybody in the music or movie sections either! How does HMV stay in business?
     
  12. murphywmm

    murphywmm Senior Member

    They seem to be doing okay here in Alberta. At least the ones that I go to. But I know they had to close that big store over in Vancouver, which is a shame. I enjoyed going there when I was in the city.
     
  13. ARK

    ARK Forum Miscreant

    Location:
    Charlton, MA, USA
    Went to Portland, ME and Nashua, NH last week. Both small sections of music now and in malls. But I came home happy from each anyway.
     
  14. CT Dave

    CT Dave Senior Member

    Location:
    Connecticut
    The store in the Buckland Mall in Manchester was remodeled a few months ago and looks very much like the store in the picture. It's a much bigger store now, but the CDs, vinyl and DVDs are in the back of the store. The vinyl section has grown, the CD section is about what it was at the smaller store, the DVD selection looks to have shrunk some. They must feel that placing the clothing and other items within sight of the mall crawlers, it will get more folks into the store, and it seems to be working as the store traffic has picked up quite a bit.
     
    5-String likes this.
  15. steveharris

    steveharris Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Hey what`s up with the Newton store,It`s closed!:sigh:
    Any other locations closed too?
    Oh well.
     
  16. Ronm1

    Ronm1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
    The Nashua store previously had a good spot across from the Mall in a smaller strip mall. Tech HiFi on one side Daddy's Junky Music on the other.
     
  17. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Wow...Didn't know that. The Newton store was nice and big and always seemed to do good business, at least in the good old days...

    Looks like all the stand-alone stores are getting slowly closed :-(

    From their Facebook page:

    https://www.facebook.com/newtonnewburycomics
     
  18. mur

    mur Hyperactive!

    Location:
    South Florida
    Not from the area, but heard of Newbury Comics. Very sad to see the stores fate after reading all the posts!!
     
  19. ARK

    ARK Forum Miscreant

    Location:
    Charlton, MA, USA
    Shrewsbury closed late last year as well.
     
  20. zen archer

    zen archer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston Ma.usa
    The Newton store is gone?….. I was going to drive to the Newton store this past Saturday, but decided to just hit Norwood.

    WOW, I really love how Newbury is always pushing people to join the email list yet they never communicate with you. I would have liked to know
    they were closing that store and make one last visit.
    I guess they are not that hungry for our money?
     
  21. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Just got an email that the Burlington Newbury Comics store, currently a mid-sized store in a strip mail, is closing today and a store in the nearby Burlington Mall will open in a few days.

    So I guess the roadmap now is to close most/all of the stores that aren't in big malls. This means smaller square footage and a much bigger emphasis on clothes and crap for all of them...The dog days are are just beginning...
     
  22. cdash99

    cdash99 Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Not surprised. After the same thing occurring in Braintree, Natick, Peabody, Saugus, etc., it was just a matter of time until the real estate issues straightened themselves out in Burlington, especially since the same group owns all the malls. So long as no new mall opens in Norwood...
     
  23. Lebowski

    Lebowski Hey, careful man, there's a beverage here!

    Location:
    Greater Boston
    +1. Very decent vinyl selection in Norwood. And the cool Jango Fett LEGO statue!

    Does anybody remember the $2 off coupon they used to print in the Boston Sunday Globe comics section every week??

    I was in the Natick Mall today, they have a store there too. Let's give them some credit for surviving, and still selling SOME music...
     
    ARK likes this.
  24. Ronm1

    Ronm1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
    As I replied earlier, the same thing happened in Nashua, but I would qualify the store move there due to the stores alongside them for years were Tweeter and Daddy's Junkie Music. Once they folded a move was actually practical IMHO
     
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