I don't know if this has already been mentioned, but I was in J&R today, and they have downsized the ground floor of the CD store, eliminating the far back left corner (where the oldies and vinyl were). Not sure why. The oldies are now upstairs on the 2nd floor, where things have been rearranged (Latin and World music are now on right side in the back, for example).

I hope this is just an adjustment and not an indication of a decline.....

What replaced the oldies/vinyl area downstairs, Seth?

Well, at least I won't have to ride the elevator up with my oldies CDs when I want to pick stuff up in the jazz department before paying...

The vinyl is still downstairs to the right as you enter. Oldies and children's music are now upstairs. The rap and dance stuff is now in the last row of the rock cd section. The section where the oldies were is now closed off with a temporary wall. When I asked the manager what was going on, he just said they were remodeling. Please note that they are selling off a lot of deep catalog items at $5.99, which means that, in the future, it will be difficult to get said items at J&R. Don't know exactly what this all means, but it sure doesn't look good. I've been shopping there since 1974 and I hate to see this, but the music section is not what it used to be. Neither is the sales staff.

I was shocked by the decline of the store after not visiting it for a few years.
Not the same place I remember from the middle 80's.
Still it had all the catalog items one would need but it looks like that will come
to an end.

Jimbo mentioned this news to me last night.

I work 2 blocks away, so I'm there at least once a week. Used to be I could spend an entire lunch hour browsing and jabbering with the clerks. What is now the main rock store used to be one huge bargain outlet for thousands of cd's and albums. From one tiny shop on the street that sold stereo equipment with a record department on the basement, they turned into this downtown monolith. I can't think of a government agency or corporation down there that doesn't have an account with them. Frankly, I miss the old J&R, but with the music business in tatters, I don't see how the music stores can survive without consolidating and leaning more heavily towards current releases and not such deep catalog. Time will tell.

Yep, I was there on Wed. and noticed the changes. I fear they're going to cut back on catalog titles in stock. That'd be a real loss.

Yeah, it would be. One of the great things about J&R is the deep catalog they carry, especially Jazz and Country. If I have an urge to hear something not in my collection it's usually there, so long as it's not too obscure, and I don't mind paying a bit more. Although their prices are still very good given the times. I picked up catalog items by The Clash, Roxy Music and Rory Gallagher the other day for under twenty bucks . I've a feeling those days are numbered.

People outside of NYC started having this same discussion about five years ago.

The decline of large record stores began even in NYC (goodbye Tower/ HMV and Virgin) about 5 years ago to the point that the only "large" record store is J&R. But obviously the decline has now hit even them.

It's a shame, because unlike Tower and the others, they are a mom and pop store, same owners as in the beginning. They'll never close the entire operation, it just makes too much money for them. But they probably see the music section as a loss, so what they do remains to be seen.

yep, J&R is actually a photo/ stereo/ gadgets store with the CD/ "records" as a sideline that grew with the success of the format. And I guess that as the CD era ends, so will J&R's dependence on stocking them.

The thing is, when they first opened, the stereo equipment was crammed into a very narrow store, and the record department, while in the basement, was well stocked and the sales crew was well informed. I'd say at that time it was the record store that got them noticed, even written up in the Village Voice as the place to go to for records. It's only over the last 10 years or so that the real emphasis has shifted away from music to all the other stuff. But I think you're right, unfortunately.

I always enjoyed J&R's stereo area and they've always been a great camera store. Recent commercials even emphasized the stuff they have other than music.

Spent Jimbo Lunch at J&R today. Some workmen were busy walling off the former Oldies section, significantly reducing the floorspace on the street level.

On a happier note, all CDs were on sale.

Man, I need to get down there before it all goes bye-bye.

Any news on the J&R front?

I was there during lunch hour today. The whole left wall (as you walk in) that has been built is now stocked with X Box and tons of computer games. The cashiers are now directly at the front of the store.Yes, the oldies have been moved upstairs, but there is less space up there for deep stock.The vinyl section downstairs is now quite large, but the cd section is much smaller. I have a feeling that once the remaining deep catalog stock is sold off, it won't be replaced, and unless you've got a name, it won't be findable. Any time a store starts selling computer games where music used to be it's bad news. Very sad.

Damn, sounds like BestBuy. BB has replaced the deep CD stock they once had with more Blu-rays and Video games.

Guess I can't blame them as deep stock CDs in rock/pop just don't sell anymore (since us Baby Boomer/ Gen X people) have already bought whatever deep catalog we wanted at this point.

Vinyl albums are the only thing the young people are into (not sure if the cool factor or they actually prefer the sound of vinyl).