Tower’s sad end

The report that Tower Records was to be liquidated and its 89 stores closed was bad news for many towns and cities, but it hit Chico especially hard. The local Tower outlet is one of the oldest in the chain and has been an important part of downtown Chico’s cultural life for more than three decades.

During that time, the CN&R has enjoyed a warm professional friendship with the store’s employees, borrowing records to review and generally relying on Tower as a first source of music and information. We were devastated when its companion store, Tower Books, closed a few years ago, and we’re equally dismayed this time around—not least because good people are losing their jobs.

The Tower chain’s demise is bad for recording artists, too. It’s the last great deep-inventory chain, and its closing means that many of the small but essential labels—Sugar Hill, Alligator, Blind Pig and so many others—will be hard pressed to sell their products, which means their artists will have a much harder time finding fans. It’s a shame.

To the many generous and knowledgeable Tower employees over the years—including some who’ve also worked at this paper—thanks for the music, and good luck.