ckb said:
I'd say a store like Virgin or Tower is definitely displaced by the internet. And the problem is two-fold. The best thing about these megastores was always the selection, but now if there's something a little odd that anyone wants, its easier to order from Amazon or the like. The other meat-and-potatoes business for these stores (all music stores, really) is the latest pop hit ... folks that buy one or two albums a year. And this business has really plummetted as a direct result of downloading (legally and illegally). It has also plummetted as a result of discount retailers (i.e. Wal-Mart, Target, and also to a lesser extent Best Buy) using CD's as loss-leaders to get people in their stores.
On the other I think it is telling that the Newbury Comics maintains a store (recently expanded) just a few doors away and that chain is going strong. They've diversified into trinkets and tchotkies, and have successfully positioned themselves to ride the wave of "indie" and "alternative" music which is popular with Boston's college and post-college crowd these days. Virgin never quite made the shift in taste from the dance/electronic stuff to the "indie" stuff -- note the layout of the store even today.
Tower Records as a chain is in deep trouble ... tottering on the verge of bankruptcy and for a month or so wasn't taking new deliveries of CD's because the labels were afraid they wouldn't be paid ... short term they're looking ok, but no way they'll be moving back to Newbury St.
Borders moving into the Newbry (God, I hate that name) will suffice for a major record chain in the Back Bay, along with Newbury Comics. I still don't see Virgin abandoning Boston, though. Look for them sometime soon in Downtown Crossing (especially if they can claim some incentive from the Mayor's office) or in the Seaport (if anything ever happens there).
Virgin left for a number of reasons (better, cheaper competition in the area and some internal corporate issues forced their hand; see also all their other closings around the country), but in the end, with the outrageous overhead and pressure from the landlord, they didn't have much choice.
While, in theory, Virgin's looking for other space in the city, I'm not holding my breath. The whole industry is spending so much R&D on DRM and technology advances, therefore unless it's a SURE THING, most labels aren't putting out capital on something as risky as relocating a business that made marginal, at best, profits when located within spitting distance of two of the biggest colleges in town. With good guerilla marketing to the 300 schools in Greater Boston, they could maintain a solid 60% of their business via the internets.
As for 360; despite the "Newbury Views" and the other rot advertised, being on the ass of Newbury Street and above the MBTA are two major strikes against the owner. The entrance to the upper floors has always been an issue--having a Newbury address was of the UTMOST IMPORTANCE, but the Newbury entrance has been filled with garbage, emo losers, motorcycle gangs and bums for as long as I can remember.
It never morphed into the premiere property expected, and won't now. Had the bohemoth across Mass Ave been built, who knows what the neighborhood would be. At this point, it appears that small part of Mass Ave will remain a dead zone.
If they would have been smart, they would have cut their losses and sold the whole damn thing to Berklee two years ago (assuming Berklee would want yet another property they'd have to fit into, rather than have a new property they could design ground-up to their own needs).
