Retail Trade

Record Peddler: Speculators Make a Mockery of Record Store Day

[Record Peddler is an occasional column by Sam Lefebvre on life and music as viewed from behind the counter of an independent record store.] Record Store Day is an internationally recognized, annual event in which record labels release special titles, often in limited quantities, that are only avai ... More >>

Napster-Hating Metallica Comes to Jesus, Er, Spotify

Nearly 13 years after suing Napster, the filesharing site that started it all, the grouchy old men of Metallica have had a come-to-Jesus of sorts with the power of the Interwebz: Today, drummer Lars Ulrich announced that Metallica's music will be coming to Spotify. He even gave Napster co-founder a ... More >>

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The Tower Records Project Wants Your Help Remembering the Former Record Retail Giant

If you're one of those music fans who actually buys recordings -- instead of, you know, downloading your entire library out of ignorance, stupidity, and/or laziness -- chances are you remember Tower Records, the iconic, Sacramento-based chain whose abandoned locations still haunt certain San Francis ... More >>

A First Listen to The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, Feat. Ke$ha, Erykah Badu, Bon Iver and More

I loved, loved the Flaming Lips' Embryonic, and find The Soft Bulletin to be a pretty magical cornucopia. Pretty big fan of 1995's Clouds Taste Metallic as well. Yet I've never considered for even a second if the Lips could be one of my Favorite Bands. They might've struck gold three-ish times, but ... More >>

Five Promising Record Store Day Releases From Bay Area Artists

The list of limited edition releases being ushered out for Record Store Day 2012 considerably dwarfs those of previous years. This coming Saturday, April 21, independent music retailers will be the sole purveyors of a variety of goods arranged with (hopefully) meticulous preparation, and curatorial ... More >>

No More Cheap Gas at Safeway?

The price at the pump could get even pricier -- but only at your local Safeway store. An Alameda County judge has "hinted" that he will block Safeway stores from offering cheaper gasoline to their Club Card members and loyal shoppers across the Bay Area. And you can thank the surrounding fuel statio ... More >>

South Bay Store Manager Accused of Filming Female Shoppers in Dressing Room

passing time at work ​In May, SF Weekly told readers about Nicholas Springer, the 26-year-old "pervert" who was busted filming up women's skirts and dresses at a downtown farmer's market in Marin. Now, we are going to tell you about another alleged peeping tom in the South Bay. David Meyer, a 29-y ... More >>

Amazon to Cut Out California Associates over Sales Tax Dispute

Nice little business you've got going there. It would be a shame if anything happened to it​Internet retail giant Amazon.com informed California-based Web sites, which make money via referring buyers, that they'll soon be cut out if the state forces the Amazon to pay sales tax, as proposed in the ... More >>

June's Literary Events

Record Store Day Is Christmas for Music Retailers

Radical Shopping

Are There Any Food-Related Cyber Monday Deals Worth Getting?

Online retailers are apparently stampeding after customers today.​SFoodie had never heard about Cyber Monday until this year, even though it was created in 2005. Yesterday, our Twitter feed began spilling forth a torrent of blips about Cyber Monday deals. Today the tweetstream has risen higher. So ... More >>

Target Targeted By Angry S.F. Supervisor Candidates

Everyone loves the dog. Everyone hates his employer. ​When candidates running for the Board of Supervisors were asked what they thought about Target's plans to open a pair of San Francisco outlets, their opinions were like discount footwear at the big box store: plentiful, hard to miss -- and unco ... More >>

Target, NOPA Neighbors to Commence NIMBY Fight Over Proposed Store

Ready, Aim, Nimbyfight​Target has scheduled its first NIMBY meeting for a proposed store at the old Mervyn's site at Masonic and Geary Streets, Bike NoPa reports. Target would seem a shoo-in for a site previously occupied by chain department stores such as Sears and Mervyn's. But this neighborhood ... More >>

Saturday is Record Store Day: Limited-Edition Releases, Rare In-Stores

  Record Store Day, that annual record-buying rite of spring that will rock independent music sellers across the world, hits again this Saturday, April 17. The event is a two-fold celebration: it's a chance for bands to put out small-run, limited-addition releases ... More >>

Come For Black Friday, Stay For -- Gay Marriage?

​Last week, Lauren Smiley wrote a fascinating story about a Mexican man who specifically flew to San Francisco to participate in the Black Friday buy-a-thon in the City by the Bay.Most San Franciscans probably wouldn't be thrilled with the impression of our city an out-of-towner gets if his or her ... More >>

A Panino You Can Check Out and Pay With: A SFoodie Lunch Planner

calmenda/FlickrDon't stop.​Monday, November 30, 2009 Shopping Cyber Monday takes time. And even though you'll spend all morning hoisting brim beanies and pullover hoodies into your shopping cart, you'll probably need to keep shopping right through lunch. Fortunately, SoCha Café has free Wi- ... More >>

Urban Outfitters Fixie: $400. Achieving Hipster Chic: Priceless.

Meet 'Aristotle'They sucked the hip out of ironic T-shirts, singer sewing machines, and hamburger phones. Now Urban Outfitters has a new trend-killer in stock: The fixed-gear bicycle. Fixed-gears are the gazelles of the bicycle world: simple, elegant, and more than a tad dangerous for the inexperien ... More >>

eMusic Raises Rates

As of yesterday, eMusic rates went up (the basic package is now $11.99, while the Premium package is now $20.75 monthly), while the number of songs subscribers can download has decreased (from 40 to 30 for Basic; from 75 to 50 for Premium). that basically amounts to less music for more money. The ... More >>

Costco Confirms Ban of Foie Gras from Online Inventory

Ryanrules via FlickrThe mega retailer couldn't confirm its foie gras supplier's claimsA representative of Costco called SFoodie today to clarify the retailer's position around yesterday's reported foie gras ban, announced in a press release by anti-cruelty group the Animal Protection and Rescue Leag ... More >>

Tiga

Mom-and-Pop Record Stores Not Exactly Cheering Virgin's Demise

The Virgin megastore died? Drag. The plaintive statements from city officials when the Virgin megastore announced it was closing shop seemed slightly un-San Francisco. Isn't this the city that hates big box stores with such a vengeance that they're blocked from taking root by anti-corporate ... More >>

Cell phones: the future of music broadcasting

Why the 'Black Friday Story' Is the Enemy of Real News

By Peter JamisonThe professional world offers few examples of desiccated ritual more perfect than those to be found on newsstands the Saturday after Thanksgiving, when daily papers across the country give over their front pages to the annual Black Friday story. Every year, without fail, unlucky repo ... More >>

Trapped in the Deadmau5 beat

Cruising the bargain bins with Vetiver’s Andy Cabic

Metallica -- live, in person, this weekend

SF Street Style: Spotted in Upper Haight

SF Safeway Grocer's Strikes Looms -- And We So Don't Care

New Interpol Live EP Releases Today in Exclusive Stores

Don't Believe The Hype: Cyber Monday

Kids Fall Into The Gap: Child Labor Scandal Hits Bay Area Megabrand

Bookstore Love

When one door closes, another opens

Supersore

The sins of Wal-Mart get the documentary treatment

DVD Gift Box

The Fanboy Crusade

Why a San Francisco comic-shop owner is trying to sue the pants off of Spider-Man's owners -- to the tune of $18 million

Best All-in-One Shoe Store

Shoe Pavilion

Ransom Notes

Can one man convince millions of people to pay for their "free" music?

I Have a Dream 2.0

New Seybold upgrade brings ethics, privacy, adulation, salvation via Internet

South to the Future

E-tailers Surf the Anti-Microsoft Wave

Riff Raff

Free Lars Ulrich!; New Groove; Sound Off

Suitcase Full of Art

"Frenzy"

South to the Future

Pressing Patent Suit May Backfire on Amazon.com

Hear This

Music.competition

With MP3s under attack and major labels designing new standards, three Bay Area firms try to corner the market on online music

Dog Bites

Hear This

Falling for the Gap

San Francisco gave away the store to help The Gap Inc. and its politically connected chairman build an upscale headquarters with a bay view. But more than $18 million in subsidies apparently won't bring the city anything it couldn't have had free.