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Re: New York yawns at Chinese Democracy
Guns n’ Roses fans expecting to be met with pyro, a giant inflatable Axl Rose — or at least Chinese Democracy blaring from the sound system — were in for a surprise when the anxiously awaited album hit Best Buy stores yesterday. At all the Manhattan outlets Rock Daily visited Sunday, you’d be hard-pressed to know it was one of the most hyped release days of the century.
Best Buy has released its share of exclusive music (notably live DVDs from the Rolling Stones and the Police), but serving as the sole distributor of Guns n’ Roses Chinese Democracy, which the retailer dubbed “the most anticipated album of all time” in its promotional materials, was a coup. Yet there were no midnight sales, and therefore no opportunities to nab video like the 1991 footage of fans lining up to buy both of the Use Your Illusion long boxes. When the doors of one downtown New York City store opened at 9 a.m., there were two customers waiting outside. Once in, it took a few minutes of searching to actually find the discs, and the promised vinyl was nowhere to be found — and neither was a cashier, for that matter.
The Chelsea location fared better with a full stand-up display, but the kids in the store were more interested in playing “Santeria” on Guitar Hero. That is, except for the one longhair who stared at the disc in his hands on his way out the door, as if it would disappear if he neglected it. As he left the store, he held it up to a passerby, laughed and said, “Crazy.”
The Midtown Manhattan store had the most purchases during Rock Daily’s visit of any of the locations, including one uniformed police officer who must have gotten over Axl’s diss on “One in a Million.” One customer flipped through every copy on the rack, either on an OCD quest for the most pristine packaging or finally coming to the conclusion of his 14-year internal struggle over whether he should buy it. He did.
With what must have been a precisely negotiated deal, it’s curious how minimally Chinese Democracy was emphasized in the Best Buy stores. In none of the four locations visited Sunday was the record playing on the house music system, and only one had any sort of stand-alone display. This isn’t to say that Chinese Democracy won’t do big numbers, especially with customers descending on the retailer en masse this week for Black Friday sales, but after a decade and a half of anticipation, Best Buy’s release of Chinese Democracy began in New York with a shrug.
- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
- FlashFlood
- Rep: 55
Re: New York yawns at Chinese Democracy
where I bought mine in Manchester, NH there was a big display right as you entered, impossible to miss. The vinyls were proudly displayed at the top.
sounds to me like the manager of that particular best buy dropped the ball.
BEFORE ANYBODY SAYS ANYTHING
that doesnt mean that Axl and co. didnt drop the ball either, marketing wise.
Re: New York yawns at Chinese Democracy
This is why I OD on salt when various fans at all these sites say "I bought a quadrillion copies and I saw 50 people in line who also had a quadrillion copies. Clerk said she was tired of scanning so many of these albums". Those sound like stories based on what they wanted the experience to be like. People also talk of these giant displays. Where? I didn't see anything when I bought my copy yesterday.
Its better to ignore stuff like that and wait for the facts to come in.
Re: New York yawns at Chinese Democracy
where I bought mine in Manchester, NH there was a big display right as you entered, impossible to miss. The vinyls were proudly displayed at the top.
sounds to me like the manager of that particular best buy dropped the ball.
BEFORE ANYBODY SAYS ANYTHING
that doesnt mean that Axl and co. didnt drop the ball either, marketing wise.
Its starting to look like they cherry picked which stores to have these big displays in, or like you said its a store to store problem with them being too lazy to bother setting things up.
- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
Re: New York yawns at Chinese Democracy
This is why I OD on salt when various fans at all these sites say "I bought a quadrillion copies and I saw 50 people in line who also had a quadrillion copies. Clerk said she was tired of scanning so many of these albums". Those sound like stories based on what they wanted the experience to be like. People also talk of these giant displays. Where? I didn't see anything when I bought my copy yesterday.
Its better to ignore stuff like that and wait for the facts to come in.
There was a big display at the front of the store when I walked in yesterday. I had pre-ordered mine so I went to the customer service desk. The display had both the CD's and LP's. There were 3 people looking at it, but beyond that I wasn't really paying too much attention.
- FlashFlood
- Rep: 55
Re: New York yawns at Chinese Democracy
FlashFlood wrote:where I bought mine in Manchester, NH there was a big display right as you entered, impossible to miss. The vinyls were proudly displayed at the top.
sounds to me like the manager of that particular best buy dropped the ball.
BEFORE ANYBODY SAYS ANYTHING
that doesnt mean that Axl and co. didnt drop the ball either, marketing wise.
Its starting to look like they cherry picked which stores to have these big displays in, or like you said its a store to store problem with them being too lazy to bother setting things up.
ya I'm almost positive, especially in New York, that that is a managerial issue. i find it hard to believe they would cherry pick Manchester, NH as a place to have a display.
- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
Re: New York yawns at Chinese Democracy
FlashFlood wrote:where I bought mine in Manchester, NH there was a big display right as you entered, impossible to miss. The vinyls were proudly displayed at the top.
sounds to me like the manager of that particular best buy dropped the ball.
BEFORE ANYBODY SAYS ANYTHING
that doesnt mean that Axl and co. didnt drop the ball either, marketing wise.
Its starting to look like they cherry picked which stores to have these big displays in, or like you said its a store to store problem with them being too lasy to bother setting things up.
If Midland, TX's Best Buy had a display, then there's no excuse for the NYC ones to not have one. Of all places, I highly doubt they cherry picked the Midland, TX Best Buy as one of the lucky stores to have a display. 
It is possible that it took them a while to put the displays up. I didn't go pick up my pre-order until around 1:30 PM yesterday. Perhaps those NYC stores eventually did put the displays up and RS wasn't there to see it because they went in the morning.
- NickNasty2009
- Rep: 2
Re: New York yawns at Chinese Democracy
Hadley, MA had the big display and copies littered throughout the store.
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: New York yawns at Chinese Democracy
There was a display at the Best Buy I went to and vinyls were on top, but there was no big fanfare about it. It was easy to find, in the front of the store, but I didn't see anyone else glance at it or anything (saw more people at Customer Service than at the checkout line).
