CDs to Go closes its doors for good

CDs to Go is going, going, gone. Yesterday, the store became the first Houston Hall retailer to close up shop and the second music seller to leave campus this semester. The reasons for the early closing remain unclear, as retailers are allowed to remain in Houston Hall until it closes for renovations at the end of May. Employees at the store referred all questions to owner Steve Brasovankin, who did not return repeated telephone calls to his office and home. Brasovankin owns two other Philadelphia locations of CDs to Go. The departure of the store from Penn's campus was all but a foregone conclusion, since the University had decided not to offer the store another space. Earlier this semester, the store's manager said CDs to Go would likely relocate to the Drexel campus. College sophomore Rob Sachs, station manager at student radio station WQHS, said that "it's a shame that the students are getting less variety and less choice in their music." Classical Choice, which moved from its space on the 3700 block of Walnut Street in the Book Store building to a Center City location in February, was the first of three music stores expected to leave campus this year. Vibes, also in the Book Store complex, will leave when that building is demolished to make way for a new Wharton building. That departure will leave Spruce Street CDs as the only store devoted to music on the Penn campus. A spacious bookstore operated by Barnes and Noble, scheduled to open in the new Sansom Common complex this summer, will also offer some music for sale. Of the three stores, only Classical Choice was offered an alternate location. In February, Howard Gensler, the store's owner and a member of the Daily Pennsylvanian Alumni Association board of directors, cited an unfair lease proposal as the reason he declined to keep his store on campus. Yesterday, Sachs noted that he thinks "students want to see these stores survive, and a little more effort put into saving them." "I hope people don't buy all their CDs from Barnes and Noble next year," he added. Many retailers say that they feel the University has done little to help them find other locations on campus. University officials, however, have pointed out that there are currently few open spaces on and around campus. Stores perceived as important or unique to the area have been offered spaces, officials said. No other stores appear likely to jump the closing gun. Penn officials have previously indicated they would be unlikely to fill spaces vacated before the mall's June closing.