Notes on Mike Dreese's plans for the future; plus Aloud
By SARAH TOMLINSON | May 17, 2006
Aloud
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In the wake of Virgin Megastore’s announcement that it will close its 46,000-square-foot Newbury Street location next year, Newbury Comics chief executive MICHAEL DREESE says he’s not interested in taking over the Mass Ave corner storefront. But Dreese confirmed he’s looking to expand the reach of his 26-store chain with a 15,000-square-foot superstore when the right location presents itself. “We certainly would not be opening a store of that scale in the Back Bay. You need lots of space cheap. Otherwise your customer has to pay the difference, and customers don’t think CDs are underpriced right now.” Dreese suggests the best spots for a superstore are outside Boston. “The markets that really interest us are the Worcester market, or maybe a place like Nashua, New Hampshire, or possibly Somerville or Jamaica Plain. It would have to be the right piece of real estate, big, cheap, fairly visible. Those are all hard things to find.” Dreese says nationwide closings at Virgin and HMV indicate it’s time for a new music-retail strategy, one closer to the Newbury Comics model of carrying lifestyle goods like T-shirts, comic books, and sports merchandise. “The era of being able to support a 50,000-foot store that only has CDs and DVDs in it is long gone.” . . . Indie-rockers ALOUD celebrate the release of their debut album, Leave Your Light On (Lemon Merchant Records), with a CD-release show Friday at T.T. the Bear’s. Recorded last May through September in a Connecticut home studio, the album was produced by HUGH WYMAN (ex–Baby Strange) and mixed by former Letters to Cleo drummer TOM POLCE at his home studio in Brighton. “Hugh was the fifth member of the band, and Polce was like the Wizard of Oz, since we didn’t actually get to meet him till the final tweaking session,” says singer/guitarist Jen de la Osa. The album showcases both sides of the band: “We’ve got the heart-and-soul songs like ‘Beaches’ and ‘Godspeed’ and then the more clever, cutting songs like ‘Can You Hear Me Now?’ ” You can preview the disc at www.myspace.com/aloud.On the Web
Newbury Comics: http://newbury.com/
Aloud: http://www.allthingsaloud.com/
Email the Author
Sarah Tomlinson: stomlins@mindspring.com
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Topics:
New England Music News
, Jen de la Osa, Tom Polce
