Reign of the Mega-Snore...

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. On each of my previous visits to the Virgin Megastore, I came away with a fistful of import CDs that I looked forward to unleashing on my eager ears. Some I found in the clearance bin and some I found at regular (perhaps inflated) retail prices, but I knew each time that I was going to spend an obscene amount of money, despite practicing some degree of restraint. But, little did I suspect the disappointment that was awaiting me upon this visit.

My first stop: the clearance bin. Last time the CDs had a bin all to themselves ... a multitude of singles and a plethora of albums, from nearly every genre, marked down anywhere from 25% to 75% off, all mixed together, with any hope of organization (alphabetical or otherwise) delightfully abandoned. But this time? It was sad indeed: CDs occupied barely half of the bin, and even then there was nary a trace of the variety there once was. (In fact, there were probably 20 copies of one particular title that I can't recall at the moment ... suffice it to say it was nothing that held my interest.) Jumbled loosely in the rest of the cabinet were the usual odds and ends that you'd find in just about any bargain bin: a hat or two, CD/DVD wallets, laser lens cleaners and disc cleaning wipes, and an assortment of accessories for the most recently discontinued model of the iPod family. Although everything in the rack seemed relatively orderly (as orderly as one can hope to find a clearance bin), the items nevertheless seemed sadly neglected and abandoned.

So, feeling a bit crestfallen but not quite defeated, I pulled out my shopping list and proceeded through the rest of the store. I would soon find out, however, that the clearance bin wasn't the only part of the store that had thinned out considerably. My list was mostly filled with import titles -- the kind of stuff that one would never find in the average "big-box" store, but that wasn't rare by any means. I worked under the assumption that, if it was readily available from Amazon.com, it wouldn't be out-of-the-question for a huge music retailer like Tower (oh, how I miss Tower already) or Virgin Megastore to have it in stock. Apparently, such an assumption has now become obsolete. After the fifth or sixth "strike-out" on my list, I just aimlessly browsed the racks in disappointment. Instead of the wide selection that I had come to count on from the Megastore, I kept finding gaps -- sometimes huge gaps -- in most artists' discographies. I soon realized that I was shopping in what had essentially become, to put it bluntly, a glorified Sam Goody.

My first thought was, "Well, no wonder they're closing stores left and right." But when I think about it, CD retailers, especially the big ones like Virgin, probably find themselves in a bit of a pickle. Fewer and fewer people are buying CDs, but the stores would still like to cater to the dwindling number of people who do. It makes little sense to load up on stock only to return it later when it doesn't sell, and imports are an even dicier commodity because (correct me if I'm wrong, music retailers out there) they can't be returned to the distributor for reimbursement, which is why they eventually end up in the clearance bins. Still, I would think that Virgin Megastore would want to take full advantage of their new position as the only remaining coast-to-coast, large-scale, brick-and-mortar music retailer in America. Maybe not all the Megastores have cut their stock back so drastically -- indeed, I've only ever visited two of their locations -- but the one in question here is located in "the #1 Mills mall in the U.S.", so I would think that such a location would warrant a broader-than-usual stock. Unless I get the opportunity to visit the Times Square Megastore in New York City (which I would dearly love to do), then I get the dreadful feeling that I've had my last positive shopping experience at a deeply-stocked CD store in the U.S. with a sizable import selection: specifically, Tower Records. Yes, there's the internet, but as any buyer of tangible music media will tell you, there's nothing like the experience of walking into a shop and surrounding yourself with racks and racks of CDs, not to mention helpful and courteous salespeople.

What did I come away with, you ask? Well, in terms of imports, nothing more than a Mika CD-single (gotta have those non-album B-sides, right?) and George Michael's "Twenty-Five" greatest-hits compilation ... and even that, I think, is available domestically, though I'm mentioning it here because the one I bought appears to come from Australia, according to the copyright spiel on the back cover. The two albums I most wanted, but couldn't find on the racks, I ordered from Amazon -- I decided I was entitled to such a splurge, since I only came out of Virgin having spent $60 ... a far cry from the "glory days" of $125+ receipts!