when i first came to new york as a college student, i was impressed by the size of music stores here. an hmv at 72nd street and broadway had two floors. that was nothing compared to the tower records near lincoln center whose classical music section alone was the size of any entire music store in the malls back home. when the virgin megastore opened up in times square, some of my fellow students and i made a pilgrimage to check out the reason for all hype. one of my companions looked at the multiple escalators, flat screen monitors and aisles upon aisles of cds, and breathed, “yeah, it’s pretty mega.” he was right. walking into that store wasn’t just shopping, it was an experience. listening stations lined the walls, a dj played a more diverse song list than most radio stations, you could find just about anything that had ever been put on a cd or dvd, and it had a multiplex movie theater right inside! but each chain, had its own brand and its own personality. hmv was dark with moody pink and purple highlights, a brit pop rebel that never quite got over the 80s. tower, on the other hand, felt like the super cool, sunny california native that it was, with huge windows and airy spaces. none of these retail chains exists in the united states anymore, but they can all be found on the internet, where the shopping experience is exactly the same as at any other online store, the only difference is the logo on the home page.