Why Amazon Is Winning - Or The Tale Of Doug Hream Blunt

The other night, I went to the record store with my daughter. One of those small brick and mortar places barely paying the rent by selling used records and cds. Both of us love to look around these old shops, poking around through the boxes hoping for some kind of musical treasure just waiting to be unearthed. We love to support local businesses, too, what's left of them.

While rummaging around, I liked what was being playing through the store's audio system. I walked up to the counter, inquiring about the artist. The guy at the counter said, "It's called, My Name Is Doug Hream Blunt, the cd just came out."

I went back to the record aisle, but was really enjoying what was being played over the record store's sound system. Not finding anything compelling, I rounded up my daughter and took her selections over to the counter. While paying for the records, I told the checkout clerk that I really liked the cd he was playing and just add it to my purchases. He picks up the cd, proceeds to enter a few codes into the computer, then tells me he can't sell it. I started laughing. "Why can't you sell it?" I asked. "He replied, "It's the store's only copy, but I can order you one, even get it to you in vinyl." Perplexed, I just had to inquire. "So, you play the cd over the store's sound system to gain exposure for the music, right?" He nodded his head in agreement. "But now that I want to buy it, you can't sell it." He nodded his head in agreement again.

While my philosophical conversation with the checkout clerk continued into the Twilight Zone, my daughter took out her smartphone, took a picture of the cd cover, went online to Amazon and ordered the same music that the brick and mortar store had in their possession but wouldn't sell me.

I'll have the vinyl version at my doorstep in two days.