THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 26, 1994 TAG: 9411240061
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
IN OCTOBER 1977, record-buying in Hampton Roads changed. The same week Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane went down in McComb, Miss., a store called Tracks opened at Wards Corner in Norfolk.
Thousands of titles were spread over 10,200 square feet, everything from what was then the radical sound of punk to the great masters, stocked in a classical section several steps up from the rest of the room. Devo, James Galway and Molly Hatchet made in-store appearances. Giant paintings of album covers decorated the outside walls.
Best of all, Tracks was open to midnight on weekends.
The song may remain the same, but the name has changed. The building at Granby Street and Little Creek Road is now home to Blockbuster Music. It's the biggest of the 10 Hampton Roads stores run by the video/music giant, which owns more than 500 record stores nationwide.
Blockbuster acquired the area's Tracks and Record Bar outlets last year when it bought parent company Super Club. The logo went up this summer.
Some of the store's blue-and-yellow awning signs were still sitting on a flatbed truck last Saturday when Blockbuster reopened after a complete remodeling. Inside, a handful of fixtures were covered in plastic sheeting. Staffers, wearing in the chain's trademark blue Oxford shirts, were busily stocking the racks.
The staff seemingly outnumbered the customers, but, said manager Donna Seavey, ``there were about 30 people waiting to come in'' when the doors were unlocked.
Seavey was hired by Tracks as a singles buyer in 1978, when the store was owned by the Durham, N.C.-based Record Bar. She's worked at Wards Corner since.
``It was always like a landmark,'' she said. When customers were invited to visit other Blockbusters while the Wards Corner store was closed, some declined, Seavey added. ``They said, `Nope, we shop here.' ''
And now that the sales floor has been enlarged and carpeted?
``They like it,'' she said. ``There's a lot to look at, a lot of places to listen to music.''
Though a makeshift listening desk had been installed a few months ago, the remodeled store now has dozens of spots with headphones and CD players. Back walls are fitted with stations featuring copies of the Top 20 sellers.
The Wards Corner Blockbuster is open until 10 Sunday through Thursday, and 11 Friday and Saturday. Planet Music, the year-old superstore near Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach, is open every night until midnight, but Bruce Jesse, marketing VP for the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Blockbuster Music, said his chain doesn't require membership fees, as does Planet.
Blockbuster also has taken note of Planet's extensive stock; it's easily the most music-intensive store in Hampton Roads.
``One of the things we learned is that people expect a very large selection from Blockbuster,'' said Jesse. ``We'll be carrying more titles than you might have seen'' at Tracks.
In many cases, though, prices are still $2 to $4 above list on many titles.
``Well, will we be the lowest price every day?'' Jesse said. ``We might not be the lowest every day. It's not just about price. There's more to retailing than just price.''
And where Tracks also had a large video selection, the Wards Corner store will have music only. That's no problem, Jesse said.
``We have over 3,000 Blockbuster Video outlets,'' he said, ``and they are very good at what they do.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by PAUL AIKEN
Keesha Perdew of Norfolk listens to the Eagles' new album at
Blockbuster Music in Wards Corner.
by CNB