A 21st century record department with listening facilities!!!

[uncl_nigel]

I was in Hamburg for a prolonged weekend of tourism and yoga last weekend and "stumbled" across the Saturn electrical goods department store near the central railway station.
A huge CD and vinyl department with automated listening facilities at the end of practically every display row! The internet-listed Michelle Records was quite a disappointment in comparison although Christof and his staff were extremely friendly.

Back to Sturn: just flash the barcode of the disc you are interested in and the screen displays track listing with one or more (sometimes all) tracks to listen to over headphones... The staff member I talked to said they had more than 80% of the stock available for partial or total browsing this way.
I was in the "Dark alternative" section looking for CDs by the German group Faun and came away with 3 CDs one each by Faun, Omnia and Heilung. Without the listening system I might have taken a chance on the Omnia but would never haver taken the Heilung to thee till

The nearest I have come to this in recent years was in Vilnius (Lithuania) in 2010 when the shop staff in all the shops I visited insisted that the foreigner I am listened to the folk music CDS in my hands before I bought them.

 

[Stunsworth]

Virgin (or HMV, I can't remember) in Manchester used to have a similar system, though that was ages ago.

 

[deebster]

Much more helpful than when I used to browse in Tower Records in Bangkok and be followed around by a staff member who would then think they are helping by waving a Michael Jackson or Mariah Carey CD in my face

Rhetorical question of course, but a Dark alternative genre?

 

[uncl_nigel]

Rhetorical question of course, but a Dark alternative genre?

As far as I could make out they shove various things like folk-metal, neo-folk and pagan-folk in it...

 

[Tarzan]

I was in Hamburg for a prolonged weekend of tourism and yoga last weekend and "stumbled" across the Saturn electrical goods department store near the central railway station.
A huge CD and vinyl department with automated listening facilities at the end of practically every display row! The internet-listed Michelle Records was quite a disappointment in comparison although Christof and his staff were extremely friendly.

Back to Sturn: just flash the barcode of the disc you are interested in and the screen displays track listing with one or more (sometimes all) tracks to listen to over headphones... The staff member I talked to said they had more than 80% of the stock available for partial or total browsing this way.
I was in the "Dark alternative" section looking for CDs by the German group Faun and came away with 3 CDs one each by Faun, Omnia and Heilung. Without the listening system I might have taken a chance on the Omnia but would never haver taken the Heilung to thee till

The nearest I have come to this in recent years was in Vilnius (Lithuania) in 2010 when the shop staff in all the shops I visited insisted that the foreigner I am listened to the folk music CDS in my hands before I bought them.

Long way to go for a stretch?

 

[uncl_nigel]

Long way to go for a stretch?

It was mostly about breathing and opening the feet
If you are into yoga, the teacher was Sandra Sabatini whose yoga is strongly influenced by Vanda Scaravelli.
As far as I could tell, only Sandra, her assistant and myself had come from outside Germany.

 

[droodzilla]

Same experience here in Saturn Records in Cologne. Spent several hours there rifling through the jazz and classical racks before emerging, blinking, into daylight, having just spent the single largest sum I've ever spent on CDs. Awesome shop.