Newbury Comics : Are they still healthy...looks questionable...

I was there today as well. Sad to see this.

 

Is there a mall close by? That's whet they've done with the other freestanding stores...Cambridge, Braintree, Natick, etc.

 

I asked one of the staff, he said no.

 

That's too bad. I liked that store.

I went to the Northampton store last week. Significantly cut down CD section, but I came home happy.

 

I'm originally from the Worcester, MA area and there was one that opened one town over in Shrewsbury in 1993. I heard towards the end of last year it shut down.

 

It's not listed on their web site. Looks like their business plan is mall based.

 

you could say the same for HMV, and Virgin.

 

They really have given up on cd's, last year a manager in Norwood kinda scoffed at me when I brought cd's into trade, he told me no one buys cd's anymore.
Today at Avon I was told that cd sales have declined over the last 5 years, I don't know if that is from their data or they are talking overall industry data. Also I was
told today that they have huge lists of cd's they will not even accept any longer, this after I told him I was always on the lookout for funk,soul,jazz stuff.

What really surprises me is that their online store is so lackluster, can't they come up with a online site like secondspin or dusty groove? Why does Newbury rely on
Amazon marketplace....wouldn't they make more money with their own site? I know they have one, but I have never ordered anything from it and it does not seem to
have any product listed, other than autograph product. It's perplexing to say the least!

 

Perhaps it's the manufacturer offering those deep discounts, the store's just passing them on to customers? Just a guess, our company did have most of Universal and Warner 50% last December, but prices have hiked anew.

 

Even though I live not far from the Avon store and I often shop at other stores nearby like Home Depot and Costco, I don't go to Newbury Comics Avon very often. So, I was shocked when I went to go CD shopping there today and found the space vacant with "For Lease" signs on it. You could have knocked me over with a feather - I had no idea! I was last there in mid-February when I bought some CDs for a friend's birthday, but there was no indication then that they were about to shut their doors.

I'm very disappointed. Their next closest store, at the Braintree mall, is more about hipster clothes and dumb nick-nacks than about music. But now they're the only significant CD retailer anywhere in the area.

It's kind of weird that I found this thread via a Google search while trying to find out what happened to the store. I participate in the Music Corner, but rarely look here.

 

I went into the Salem, NH store this weekend to see what I could get during their 25% off sale. Sadly, the CD sections have shrunk further and I left with empty hands. I don't think they've re-stocked the shelves from Record Store Day back in April.

Weirdly, Bull Moose just moved across the street into a huge space, probably tripling their floor space. How does Bull Moose make it while Newbury Comics seems to be going under?

 

They don't price things over MSRP?