CDs in envelopes, making a comeback?? Vinyl next??

Noticing the trend more and more
empty jewel boxes in the racks

cd at the counter in an "abstract" envelope
system, which takes them , aprx 15 minutes to locate

Then they pull the cd out and show it to you

Then get irritated when you do not buy

It is Nice that more and more stores are putting the fun back into cd buying

There is a guy I shop at , that wants to do this with his pre-owned album inventory ( I would estimate 250,000+ in stock)

Another guy has a about 70K vinyl / albums and picture sleeved 45s
he is going to make the move and do it for the whole she-bang


the next year is going to be interesting


Making music buying becoming an adventure , every time you go into a store , really does make it more attractive and fun , then buying on Ebay

 

I’m not seeing this in my area. Can’t imagine why anyone would bother as most CDs are effectively worthless these days.

 

A charity shop near me goes to the trouble of sealing CD cases.

 

My local neighbourhood record store has been doing this since they opened years ago to prevent theft.
I agree that now it doesn't seem as necessary, given the declining monetary value of CDs.
Still, it rarely takes more than a minute or two for the CD to be retrieved so I have no problem with it.
And on any occasion that I've asked to look at a CD and didn't buy it no one got upset.

 

It just sounds like someone who is obsessive about people touching the product. When I first started working at the store I'm at, they had cds in sleeves. They'd always be misplaced and a huge pain in the **** to locate for a customer. One of my first mandates was getting rid of that system. There really hasn't been an issue with people trying to steal them or messing up the discs. If a cd is rare, it usually stays up at the counter or goes online. It's blasphemy to some but there just aren't many cd collectors in southern Illinois.

 

not all of them...there are many OOP CDs that bring in great prices. : )

 

do they give you the opportunity to open and inspect a used CD?

 

Yeah, when you have to open the seal on a digi-pack, just to take the CD out, to put it into an envelope?! Just to put on display-? What is THAT...

I remember when I bought the first Laurie Anderson album (don't laugh - ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...), the jackets were up on the wall, and the LP's were in drawers behind the counter. But, this was a big city and it was 1980 and it was a fancy-schmancy record store putting on airs, maybe he had been to an English record store a long time ago and thought it would be a cool way of getting noticed, I dunno. But, no I do not see that becoming a thing, without a bunch of customers snickering at the vendor.

The day I have to treat my music purchases like I'm shopping for a wedding ring at the jeweler is the day the record industry may actually be taking Quality Control seriously again. Anybody really see that happening...?

 

Old school thing, I believe. An old owner did that with everything. Somehow he managed to keep the white strips on plastic cases. I just imagine the cd rubbing the plastic as he tried to get it out. Many times the booklet got out and he'd put a sticker ON the booklet. Ugh. He also somehow managed to get digipaks out of the shrink and put back in.

 

(Oh, wait, didn't need that smilie...got a pic of that right here on my avatar...)

 

Many of them in the past couple decades since the decline of mass manufacturing. I think if there is a "cd revival," the ones with value will be early cds still in good shape and the first couple decades of the 2000s. There will always be an abundance of popular 90's artists.

 

You are not meant to open them, but I do (at least the ones that interest me). Sometimes the tape residue is hard to remove, but otherwise it's just really annoying.

 

gotcha...: )

 

I agree 100%!

 

Some 90s albums are OOP and very hard to find.

Low - I Could Live In Hope
This one isn't getting any cheaper (I may sell my Plain reissue, which is also commanding a premium). The problem is not the rarity of the release, but the demand.

 

Low. Never heard of them. I'm talking about Garth Brooks and Bush.

 

I'm a bit confused by your last statement (unless you're joking) - how does behind the counter storage make CD shopping more fun?

 

trying to be funny...lol

 

You never heard of Low? And yet you have a character from a British sitcom as your avatar.

For some reason, Bush aren't common here in the UK. And we may be well past peak Brooks as far as charity shops go (a bit like Dido).

But there will be no shortage of albums like Nevermind. Even My Bloody Valentine will no doubt be easy to find in the right location.

 

No I have not. Low must be the Bush of the UK. At any rate, looks like they were on small labels until they got onto SubPop. Hardly a "popular" artist from the 1990's. Maybe they are now through cult status, but certainly not then where their cds were made in great, great quantities. Not sure why you feel the need to argue my point. There will always be the obscurity that is rare.

I'm also curious what the direct connection between a 90's indie/cult band and a 1970's show about department employees is. It's sort of like saying, "You like the show Columbo? You're bound to love the music of O-Town." You know, because they're both American.

 

Low albums originally appeared on Virgin Records Vernon Yard imprint. They then signed to Kranky, a well respected but small label. Finally, they signed to Sub Pop (I kinda lost interest at that point). They are from Minnesota. The 90s was the era for indie. It is one reasons why vinyl pressing plants survived. Some albums are easy to come by, others very difficult. Low early albums are difficult to find because 1) they are very good, and 2) they have been OOP for some time.

As it happens, Are You Being Served is popular in the US because it appears on PBS.

 

Okay.

No kidding?