FYE Downsizing?

Don't know if this means impending doom for all FYE stores, but I went to the Post Office today and the local FYE that's in the same shopping center is gone. Kaput. It ceases to exist. Only been in there a handful of times, but I did find a few used discs once. Oh well. Serves 'em right for the prices they charge.

I had 2 near my house. I went to go to one of them a while back and it was gone but this was way before all this recession stuff started. I still have the other one that I usually went to anyway because they seemed to carry more metal and the one in my mall which downsized a lot since they remolded it. The one in the mall used to be good but now its so small that everything seems to just be in either Rock/Country/Rap where as the other one is seperated with Rock/Metal/Rap/Country etc. sometimes that bothers me to though cause something will be in Metal that either shouldnt be there or something Metal will be in Rock. Either way their cds still are rather expensive but the used stuff is reasonably priced.

The majority of these chain stores are doomed. They cannot compete with Amazon or the other online retailers and they also can't compete with large package stores like Best Buy or Wal Mart. FYE was easily the worst chain music store I've ever seen, prices were ridiculous and the selection was terrible, don't understand how they survived this long.

Unless you live in a large enough city to support a couple independent record stores (that cater to niche markets), online will soon be the only option.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Don't know if this means impending doom for all FYE stores, but I went to the Post Office today and the local FYE that's in the same shopping center is gone. Kaput. It ceases to exist. Only been in there a handful of times, but I did find a few used discs once. Oh well. Serves 'em right for the prices they charge.

My friend worked at one. Once they got the word, it closed in about two weeks.

What made them think they could replace The Wherehouse? They didn't chang anything, their prices were pretty much the same.

My biggest complaint about FYE (besides the prices) is the way the cds are jammed into the racks and impossible to go through. The DVDs are even worse. Sometimes they'll have a cool used find but that is getting much less frequent. Mostly it is me finding something then thinking I'll get it off amazon cheaper.

At this point I hate to see any place that allows me to come in and physically look for cds go under.

It's all going full cirlce to underground trading like the old days for cassettes.

Tower Records was the last nail in the coffin, I used to go there religiously, but when they tanked I could see the writing on the wall.

Borders used to be a great store at one time, but when they started cutting their inventory in half they became almost as useless as FYE.

So I switched to online shopping for the most part, although luckily there are quite a few good independent stores here in Austin so I can still enjoy the feeling of browsing the racks.

detuned wrote:

Tower Records was the last nail in the coffin, I used to go there religiously, but when they tanked I could see the writing on the wall.

Borders used to be a great store at one time, but when they started cutting their inventory in half they became almost as useless as FYE.

So I switched to online shopping for the most part, although luckily there are quite a few good independent stores here in Austin so I can still enjoy the feeling of browsing the racks.

Same here, but not too many independents to choose from like where you're from.

Troublezone wrote:

It's all going full cirlce to underground trading like the old days for cassettes.

It may be but it doesnt help right now that a lot of people are cutting way back on their discretionary spending. I think in general the retail market will be quite different with the potential for the likes of Sears, Kmart, Eddie Bauer, Lanes and others to be gone in this current economic rescession...

Alex

good bye and good riddance.

sam wrote:

good bye and good riddance.

I have to agree with this. The last time I religiously shopped at a major retailer was National Record Mart (anyone remember those?) in the early 90's. Since then it's been independant record stores and most recently, online retailers. Some dinosaurs need to die. FYE is one of them.

Quote :

Some dinosaurs need to die. FYE is one of them.

That is funny!

The only dinosaur i wish didn't go extinct is Tower. Everything else who cares...

I'm surprised FYE is still going. With their prices and selection, they should've gone out of business YEARS ago.

It's only a matter of time. I know the FYE at my mall is always empty, customer-wise.

GAWD, I MISS TOWER RECORDS!!!!

And oh yea, screw FYE.

They have closed 2 of the 4 in my area (RI, Mass.) and the one in my town never seems to have any customers i there on the rare occasions I stop in. I go mostly to Newbury Comics or a Walmart every now and again. I have recently started doing more online shopping.Peace.

closed the only one in my area, capoof, gone.

Was FYE the wall before? I bought so many cd's from The Wall(back in the late 90's) and found a lot of my fav bands from that stores selection. I shop at FYE often as I get a 30% discount. They also have a lot of pretty cheap used discs at the one near me.

MetalRob331 wrote:

Was FYE the wall before? I bought so many cd's from The Wall(back in the late 90's) and found a lot of my fav bands from that stores selection. I shop at FYE often as I get a 30% discount. They also have a lot of pretty cheap used discs at the one near me.

Yes, the parent company of FYE bought up a bunch of smaller operations (Strawberries, The Wall, Coconuts among others) and either closed 'em up or changed them to FYE's.

haha The Wall.... remember that stupid sticker they would put on the case and if something was scratched you could return it for a new one? Genius idea!

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

haha The Wall.... remember that stupid sticker they would put on the case and if something was scratched you could return it for a new one? Genius idea!

I'd almost forgotten about The Wall until a few months ago when I pulled one of my CDs off the shelf that hadn't been played in a long while and saw their "guaranteed for life" sticker on the back of the case.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

haha The Wall.... remember that stupid sticker they would put on the case and if something was scratched you could return it for a new one? Genius idea!

yes haha that blue sticker, well thats the color it was when I purchased cds

Fat Freddy wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

haha The Wall.... remember that stupid sticker they would put on the case and if something was scratched you could return it for a new one? Genius idea!

I'd almost forgotten about The Wall until a few months ago when I pulled one of my CDs off the shelf that hadn't been played in a long while and saw their "guaranteed for life" sticker on the back of the case.

H ha. I'm sure if I went through my collection, I'd find a few of those blue stickers too.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

MetalRob331 wrote:

Was FYE the wall before? I bought so many cd's from The Wall(back in the late 90's) and found a lot of my fav bands from that stores selection. I shop at FYE often as I get a 30% discount. They also have a lot of pretty cheap used discs at the one near me.

Yes, the parent company of FYE bought up a bunch of smaller operations (Strawberries, The Wall, Coconuts among others) and either closed 'em up or changed them to FYE's.

They closed them all around here. All but one, anyway. Last time I checked, there was one Strawberries left in Boston, a three-story shop. Wonder if it's still there?