The rigors of retail

Pub date March 27, 2007
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By G.W. Schulz

From yesterday’s Examiner:

“The show could be over at a Santa Rosa music store whose owner was jailed after she refused to turn out the lights. Lisa Reed remained in jail much of Friday on suspicion of stealing electricity from PG&E to power her store without paying. Reed, the owner of Epiphany Music and Recording, rewired the store to keep the lights on after PG&E took her off the grid for not paying her bills for a year, authorities alleged.”

Is shit going that badly in the retail biz these days? On the other hand, stealing electricity is pretty punk rock.

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In releted news, Idolator is reporting that Rough Trade Records plans to open a storefront in London despite industry-wide plummeting CD sales and the slow death of Tower Records. Perhaps there’s a little life left in the retail side of the industry after all. Or, consumers have smartly used technology to circumvent corporate leeches, and the greedheads can’t figure out how to make up for it. The only survivors will be those who managed to hang on to a little indie cred. Maybe that’s being way too hopeful.