A lot of articles about large retail spaces have been circulating through the blogosphere lately. There’s no shortage of retailers eager to fill those spaces, as my last two blog entries below point out.

Usually, it seems, the new occupants are in businesses vastly different from the original tenants’. Interesting that a former Tower Records store in Seattle is now the home of a 42,000-square-foot CD-only music store. Smart move. Customers are already used to buying music in that location.

The owners of Silver Platters have clearly carved a niche for themselves in the Pacific Northwest. With the iTunes Store and other digital music services getting so much press, you’d think the CD was nearly extinct. But the Silver Platters guys figured out that there’s a vast market of buyers who still like the CD format. They want to browse well-stocked aisles and talk to salespeople who know their musical genres.

“Selection and service, service and selection,” one of the owners says. “Those are the two things that keep people coming back.” I don’t know the guy, but we’ve been on the same page for years.

Like the other big-box retailers I’ve blogged about, the new Silver Platters is becoming a destination in itself, with a stage for free music performances and a rewards program for frequent buyers.

Stories like this show that knowing your audience and how to attract them to your location are as important as ever. That’s how Silver Platters has become a big fish in a small pond.