"Marbecks" no longer Marbecks, sign of the times?

In a world of iThis & Download that it seems strange that a “Record Shop” can be part of your life…

The news that the Marbeck family have sold their “Record Store” (first opened in 1934) made me think about how it, and media, have evolved in a relatively short time.

I remember in the days before interweb shopping and download, when many NZ records were stamped locally, if you couldn’t get something the standard response was “try Marbecks!”. They were legendary for stocking, importing if they didn’t, virtually any title you’d want. The business has evolved changed premises, expanded and contracted, even embraced the Internet. They always led in promoting new media & technology; especially in the early days of CD when they were the place to go. Venturing into that store in downtown Auckland was certain to result in another title, at least, being added to my collection.

I work for The Warehouse (TWL), who have claimed a huge portion of retail music sales, but am still a customer at Marbecks. Large chains cater to mass markets and my, I’ll admit strange, musical tastes are not often satisfied by their range. That means turning to specialists like Marbecks, or nowadays on-line, to find titles that will never be seen in NZ. However I always check Marbecks, and other local sites, before ordering overseas as they generally offer better prices if they have the title (freight is a killer to NZ).

Although TWL have made life hard for retailers all struggle to compete with downloads. That has been hampered by the pain that is Digital Rights but the end of that means the real competition is just starting.

Still nothing on-line compares to the experience of wandering thru a big store browsing and discovering new titles/artists you’ve never heard of before. It appears the new owners are going to stick to the Marbecks formula:

"They have kept something special in music retailing and we want to continue with that," said Roger Harper, managing director of [new owners] The CD and DVD Store, which has 30 outlets.

That’s good to hear and also that Roger is still in the music business, as owner of Ode Records who have a catalogue of New Zealand, Pacific, World, Classics and Jazz recordings.

Change of tune but Marbecks name stays - 11 Apr 2007 - NZ Herald: New Zealand Business and Personal Finance News
The departure of the Marbeck family from Queen St marks the end of an era for Auckland retailing.
But the new owners of Marbecks Record Shop, The CD and DVD Store, say they will keep the family brand name that has been a part of what was called "The Golden Mile" for more than seven decades…

Change of tune but Marbecks name stays - 11 Apr 2007 - NZ Herald: New Zealand Business and Personal Finance News
The departure of the Marbeck family from Queen St marks the end of an era for Auckland retailing.
But the new owners of Marbecks Record Shop, The CD and DVD Store, say they will keep the family brand name that has been a part of what was called "The Golden Mile" for more than seven decades…

Tags:  marbecks