In a message dated 2/28/03 12:16:29 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
popmusic@notlame.com writes:

> IS the best buys and circuit
> cities and h ow they do business with selling music.   Sure, they sell cd's
> cheaply.  Why? Most of them are sold below cost or at cost.  Really, folks.
> It's true.  You get a great buy picking cd's up there...no argument

Bruce brings up some very good and very true points.

In my time working in music retail, I've become extremely aware of how the 
business functions and how, if you care about music at all, you really really 
should not let your money go to stores like Best Buy, Circuit City 
and--because they're just as bad, and operate in the same ways--Wal-Mart, 
Kmart, Target, etc.

Auditeers in the Boston area may have seen last Sunday's Boston Globe where, 
in two separate articles, Newbury Comics founder and CEO Mike Dreese, in a 
typically no-bullshit tone, said that in 5 years time there will be virtually 
no CD stores and didn't shy away from admitting that Newbury's days as a 
retailer of MUSIC are probably numbered. We're weathering this storm better 
than many of our competitors, but it's not because of the CDs--it's because 
of the rest of our product mix. If CDs begin to lose money--and they're not 
far from it--they're gone. That's a very chilling thought considering what 
else is available.

That said, keep in mind that the general music buying public is not aware of 
this. At all. People will constantly complain about our prices (which are far 
from unreasonable), citing that "Best Buy has it cheaper". The official party 
line on this is "Go to Best Buy, then"--we don't price match and 
realistically can't afford to compete with them on price. We try, 
occasionally, but in all honesty it hurts more than helps. We used to charge 
around 11.99-13.99 for almost everything in the store. Now the hits and new 
releases are priced similarly to the big chains, but that forced the cost of 
the other CDs up by several dollars. In the long run this might hurt. We try 
to stay strong in what we're best at--being a "fun" store to hang out in 
(read: we don't hound and harrass the kids), offering a wider and deeper 
catalog than most retailers, and offering far more knowledgeable employees 
per square foot than any of our competitors. (I should note that, unlike most 
chain retailers, Newbury takes remarkably good care of their employees, 
offering full benefits to full timers and generous bi-annual raises). But all 
those things cost money.

One customer, while returning a Busta Rhymes CD that was a couple bucks less 
at Best Buy, said rather frankly that she said she hopes Best Buy puts us out 
of business. While that's a bizarre thing to say, especially considering that 
our cardinal sin was charging more for a catalog CD and not, say, poor 
customer service (something Best Buy is frequently guilty of), it does speak 
to how uneducated the average consumer is on how the world of retail works. 
Best Buy does charge below cost for their CDs. What happens when their 
competitors--the Newburys or even TransWorlds--go under? There's no way in 
hell Best Buy is going to keep charging below cost if they have no serious 
competition--those prices will certainly go up. Every time you buy a CD at 
Best Buy and not your local (or even smaller chain) store, you're supporting 
this end result.

I don't mean to sound like a Newbury Comics commercial, because most of these 
things would apply to similar-sized chains and local retailers all over the 
country. They do not, however, apply to those generic big-box type 
discounters.

--Jason