In a message dated 5/31/2004 8:01:37 PM Eastern Standard Time, audities-owner@smoe.org writes: <> This dimwitted sales assistant would like to note that sales are up fairly substantially this year, and while we've closed a pair of stores (in both cases because of lease issues), we also just opened a brand new one. We're also faring far better than our music retail competition, both in terms of the "giants" (the irrelevent Tower and HMV, with 1 and 2 Boston-area stores, respectively) and the bread-and-butter music retailers (the equally irrelevent FYE and Strawberries, who nevertheless do rope in the VERY casual, base-level consumers). The problem with all of those stores? THEY'RE NOT FUN. No one wants to spend time in them! Why would anyone bother to go to a store if it doesn't have some surprises, if it isn't sort of an exciting place to dig through the bins and look for stuff? If music retailers die, it's because, as Graham Parker once said, they have a small brain and refuse to learn. The companies that do learn may make it, if not forever (and frankly, probably NOT forever) then at least or awhile longer. --Jason