Depressing Message From Founder Of Newbury Comics

This, somewhat depressing, message from the founder of Newbury Comics just showed up in my inbox. Here is the message in full, passed along without further comment:

 

Interesting, but Newbury hasn't been strictly a music store in many years. The stores are full of accessories, T-shirts, various gift/novelty items. They sell a lot of used CDs at rock bottom prices-- I got a Bing Crosby four-CD box for $15 the other day.

 

Newbury Comics is pretty much the only brick & mortar store around me with a decent selection and good prices. I really hope they can stick around, whatever the outcome.

 

+1

By far my favorite B&M record store in New England!

 

Never were. There's a reason why the name is Newbury Comics and not Newbury Music.

 

I can believe it. I occasionally browse the Best Buy CD racks, mostly out of habit. I am usually the only one looking at the discs. If there's someone else, it's a good bet it's another middle-aged guy like me. What used to be the target demographic for music is looking at smart phones and phone accessories. There's a line in that department.

 

No, but even the smaller stores typically have an excellent selection of new and used CDs, as well as a decent selection of new vinyl and vinyl accessories. It sounds like that is pretty much a lock not to be the case for much longer. I fully understand the reasons why, but it's still a bummer for a hardcore music nerd like myself.

 

I got the e-mail earlier today and actually felt compelled to write to Mike directly....more or less praising his honesty and showing appreciation for his willingness to listen to suggestion. I'm hoping they figure it out. We are extremely lucky to have a brick and mortar place like that in today's day and age. I see too many comments from people around here that they have nowhere to go in their area to buy music.

As much as I hate to see more and more space in the store dedicated to clothing, board games, magnets, and assorted pop culture ephemera, I'm happy that the place still exists.

 

I was at Harvard from 1982 to 1986. I spent countless hours at Newbury Comics in Cambridge; it was heaven on earth to me.

 

They need to open a CD brewpub!

 

I did the same!

I support NC to the tune of (upwards of) $300/month buying optical/vinyl media, and a significant part of said monies is the sales tax that I could avoid by buying online w/free shipping, etc.

Until they either no longer stock optical/vinyl media and/or the eclectic (!) music I like is available online lossless/high-res w/artwork and liner notes, I'll continue to support 'em! \../

 

Newbs is my spot for Record Store Day and I when I do shop brick and mortar it's almost always where I go. That said, they do seem more like a Spencer Gifts with CDs these days. It's all good and fun but it's clear that they don't believe they can survive just as a music store. They've outlasted Tower, HMV, Sam Goody's, and every crappy little mall record store. I hope they survive without compromising too much of their brand personality.

 

So....I wasn't the only one to get a chuckle out of answering the "How much do you spend at Newbury Comics in a year" question with "$1000+"....??

'Cause if they had a $8K to $10K option, I'd have selected it.

Pretty sad when most of your transactions are cash, not card....yet the staff still knows you by name.

 

It's a tough environment for B&Ms, but I really hope they find the right mix to carve out a long term niche.

 

It reads like a goodbye letter to their traditional music customers, without explicitly coming out and stating it. There will be a day soon where it will be impossible to physically browse new music selections beyond the Top 40.

 

Yes, that is a very succinct way of putting it. I also got that feeling reading the letter. Almost like a breakup letter.

 

It did have a "It's not you, it's where I am in my life right now" vibe to it.

 

You repeat this mantra over and over and over again.

Are you working for the Cyber Consumer Cops Propaganda Dept or what?

I just don't get your need for repeatedly ramming this opine--merely an opine--down our throats to be taken as Gospel in thread after thread...

 

Can't speak for him, but it does seem inevitable. And it's a scary thought.

 

Plan 9 just filed for bankruptcy in Richmond after substantially downscaling operations and staff over the past few years.

It just seems very hard for anyone to compete with Amazon.

 

No, this year alone I have purchased over 400 new CDs, including many at retail stores. When a chain like Newbury Comics is having a tough time selling music product, the writing is on the wall. It's not something I take great joy in, the market is just changing.

 

Red Rain and Lost Brain Cells Searching For A Sound...

I let my passion for physical media get the best of me after one too many threads forcasting its imminent demise... SORRY!

It is not inevitable, and it may not come to pass. And it might...

Meanwhile why have scary thoughts based on FEAR as to what might happen--somewhere down the line, in the future...


And, if we must be concerned about the future and find things to fear, I propose this might be more worth our time, fears and concerns...

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=246063&page=21

 

I hate buying stuff online, but I think he is just looking at the situation realistically. I always try to keep my money as local as possible. I buy most of my music from a small independent retailer who lives in my neighborhood. I'd like to keep doing that, but I don't know how much longer it will be possible. His business is suffering and it's a struggle for him to stay open (or so he tells me). What is more, even when I pre-order certain items from him, he is unable to get them from his distributor. I buy as much as I can from him, Newbury Comics is my second stop, if that fails I turn, reluctantly, to Amazon.

 

My buddy with his tiny store has the same lament. He can't afford to keep much catelog in stock, has tried adding skate boards and cheap guitars (and he doesn't play), but it's a struggle. I suggested adding bongs since he already sells incense and rolling papers, but he said the cops would bust his ***.

 

Will We All Be Pacing Our Cyber Cages Only... In The Near Future...

I'm almost the same. I buy at my local weekly--Boo Boo Records in SLO, CA.

It is great to see the crew and help keep them employed. It is the right thing to do. And if we all did our part...

If Boo Boos did not get in something I read about herein, I ask them to order it. If they don't/can get it, oh well, as The Stones writ: "You Can't Always Get What You Want... but if you try sometimes... you'll find, you get what you need..."


The only place I buy anything on-line anymore is in our Marketplace.

I used to buy a few Cds once in a very Blue Moon from CD Japan, but have stopped.


I believe we must all support our local music stores and local economies as much as possible and resist the greedy gods of mindless, massive cyber-consuming addictions bent on deconstructioning decades of community...


We Do NOT have to accept this future being thrust upon us.


Community over Convienence...