Tower Records Opens In Square

Competition among Harvard Square's music stores may never be the same.

Tower Records, a monster in the music retail industry, opened a new branch on Mt. Auburn St. this weekend. The new store, which is housed in the two-story building adjacent to Crimson Travel, is now the largest music shop in the Square.

Tower Records features a spacious sales area with eye-catching 3-D posters, fluorescent blue lights and 10 television screens simultaneously broadcasting MTV.

The store sells tapes and compact discs of pop, soul, rock, folk, international, jazz, blues and clas sical music.

"We try to make our selection as varied as possible," said Jim H. Hardin, the cassette buyer at Tower.

According to Hardin, Tower expanded to Harvard Square because the area boasts an "eclectic market of all tastes."

Tower Records originated in Sacramento in 1960 and has outlets across the nation, including one in downtown Boston and one planned for Burlington.

Hardin predicted that Tower would dominate the local music market and that the Square's smaller stores would die in the competition.

"I'll be surprised if Strawberries and Discount Records are still around in the future," he said.

But Hardin said that loyal customer cores probably would ensure the survival of the Coop and Newbury Comics.

Wayne A. Hoffman, assistant manager of Discount Records on JFK St., said Tower's main advantage is the enormous quantity of titles they have in stock.

"All of the businesses went through a certain amount of paranoia," Hoffman said.

But Hoffman said that Discount Records will continue to prosper because it provides a different selection, with unique jazz, vocal and international sections.

On the other hand, Victor Lee, manager of Strawberries, said his store would prevail because it beats Tower on prices.

All the stores, including Tower, are betting that more consumers will be attracted to the Square and make it the center of music sales in the Boston area.

With another giant store--the British-owned HMV on Brattle St.--opening next month, though, some wonder whether there is enough consumer demand to support each and every music shop in the Square.

All of the music stores agreed that customer service will determine who ends up on top. And all them claimed to provide the best in service.

In particular, many store managers questioned Tower Records' commitment to customer service.

"Everyone goes into Tower knowing that there is no one there to help you," said Lee.

"It is hard to get someone to research for you. They point you in the right direction and that's it," Hoffman said.

David M. Belote, the manager at Tower, admitted that Tower has a bad reputation for ignoring customers, but said that in one month the store would totally dominate customer service.

"Once we get the bugs worked out, we will have better customer service than anyone," he said