Depressing Message From Founder Of Newbury Comics

I hear you, and I'm a big fan of the Moose as well, but I'm not sure that the criiticism of Newbury for not having an MP3 store (which your prior post suggested) is fair. Aside from Amazon and Acoustic Sounds (via Super HiRez), there is no store that I know of that offers both physical media and a download service.

Newbury's web site could be a profit source for them if they put the time, attention, and effort into it. For better or worse (hopefully better insofar as it relates to job preservation), they have positioned themselves as being an Urban Outfitters for the Hipsters, Punk wannabes, and edgy Mall Rats.

 

do you always talk to employees at retail outlets as if they have any impact or say on the decision making process of the company they work for? i get that you're making a point about how crappy their online presence is, but c'mon.

 

Show her the waveforms on your phone next time.

 

Way to make her work for her $7.25/hr.

 

I talk to them when they talk back. In fact over the years i have spoken with a lot of Newbury Comics managers/employees and they are always insightful about what is going on with their business.
The employees on the front lines are your biggest asset as a company, I would hope that Newbury listens to these people. Once in a conversation with a manager he told me that he would speak to
the girl that was in charge of running sales. Our conversation sparked interest in him as to why the sales events were so sporadic.

 

Maybe if they did downloads they could pay her more than that!

 

I never owned a cell phone, still don't. Everyone missed my point. This whole thread is based on a depressing message by the owner of Newbury Comics. I am not
saying they have to do the same as Amazon. Instead they could offer downloads on new releases for like a 2 week period, they have a huge database of emails from their customers.
Do you think customers ever receive sales promotion when they wake up and read their email. No NEVER happens, the depressing message was that Newbury quit and went in a totally different
direction, selling clothing. As if selling fashion is a sure bet to stay in business long term, remember Caldor's, Bradlees, Filenes…they sold clothing.

 

Amoeba Music here on the west coast offers a download service on their website in addition to it's three locations.

 

I can remember buying CD box sets from Newbury Comics off of eBay and Amazon for good prices a few years ago. Did they stop selling on those sites altogether or did they just reduce their selection significantly?

 

Here is newbury's store on ebay http://stores.ebay.com/NEWBURY-COMICS

Only 48 cd's, but if you need a T Shirt your in luck!

On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aag/main?i...=ATVPDKIKX0DER&orderID=&seller=A3MS1I85ZQ44M2

 

I didn't even realize they were a brick and mortar store, although I'm sure I've ordered stuff from them through Amazon. Luckily, I live in a town with Amoeba Records, which doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon.

 

The nature of their stores has changed greatly over the years. I was in their Harvard Square location today and it's still going fairly strong. (I also stopped in at the Audio Lab while there and considered picking up a used Arcam Alpha 7R for $250 or a new Rega Brio-R for $700) Many of their other stores, the suburban strip-mall locations, have moved into the big shopping malls. These stores still carry a fair amount of music, but the focus seems to be on toys, posters, t-shirts, etc. These mall stores carry vinyl, but it's mostly new stuff, I would say at least 95% new.

Their store in Norwood, MA has a great vinyl selection (new and used) and is worth the trip if you've never been.

When I was in high school and college they used to run coupons every week in the Boston Sunday Globe's comic section. I think it was for $2 or $3 off any CD. I used it EVERY week to build my CD collection. That, and the free stuff I got from a friend who worked at Strawberries Records & Tapes. I swear, I walked out of there with a handful of CDs every week that she just gave to me without a second thought. Probably one of the reasons they went under, LOL.

 

Strawberries was a small piece of the Morris Levy empire. Google him or, better yet, read Tommy James' (of Shondells fame) book. It is said that he was the inspiration for the character 'Hesh' in The Sopranos.

Agree on your other comments re: Newbury.

 

What do you do when you need to make a phone call away from home? Find a pay phone that doesn't exist?

 

I moved my photo studio to a barn behind my house, so I am never far away from the house. And for the last 5 years I have been a stay at home dad, we adopted a baby boy.
So I really have not needed one, but I suppose we should break down and get one at some point.

Newbury Comics is having a buy 2 cd's get one free this weekend, includes new cd's.

 

I remember the Strawberries in Dedham, I picked up a lot of Prince 12 inch singles cheap back in late 80's when they closed the store. Then they remodeled the store and FYE moved in. That old Strawberries was old
they had those long fluorescent lights and linoleum floors.
Newbury used to always have coupons in the Globe Calendar pull out on Thursdays. 20% off, I worked on Newbury St in 84 and would walk up to Newbury and buy vinyl. New Order, Talking Heads, Lyres, Mission Of Burma
still have all of it in absolute Mint condition. Those were the days!

 

In all seriousness, for safety, especially as a parent, you should really get one. There are all sorts of cheap and flexible plans from the prepaid & pay as you go providers these days. If you're barely going to use it you can just pay a few dollars a month.

Not sure? Cricket, for example, has an unlimited voice and text plan for $25 a month if you're using a basic phone, and basic flip phones are incredibly cheap these days.

Even good smartphone plans can be had for $35, with the phones themselves (especially Motorola and Nokia's offerings) getting better and cheaper every day.