End of an Era - Tower Records now defunct

Synopsis of Tower's history from their website:

Tower Records has long been recognized and respected throughout the world for its unique brand of retailing. Opening for business in 1960 on Broadway in Sacramento, California, the first Tower Records store was named after the landmark theater anchoring the small shopping complex there. In that original store Tower's owner and founder, Russ Solomon extolled the very retail virtues which have been essential to Tower's phenomenal growth and innovation over the past four decades.

During the 60's the record business evolved providing hundreds of millions of people with ample and affordable access to the new, popular sounds being craved. Tower Records became an irresistible place to share the experience, embracing nine till midnight opening hours, 365 days a year, espousing "supermarket" style record merchandising and depth of catalog to boot.

A vicious hangover and a greasy breakfast led to a fortuitous 1967 encounter in a vacant San Francisco supermarket, enabling Russ Solomon to fulfill his dream and open for business a year later at Columbus & Bay. The store was an instant hit and record retailing was revolutionized by the world's largest record store of the time; not only the first of its kind, but the stepping stone to Tower Records' global expansion.

Two years later Tower's landmark store on Hollywood's Sunset Strip opened. Catching the next great wave of California music Tower Sunset quickly became one of America's most important record stores. Its success led to nationwide growth over the next twelve years as Tower surfed the public's widening tastes in music, maximized the proliferation of music media and cultivated its own merchandising mastery. Tower had grown into what became known as a "category killer".

1979 witnessed Tower's entry into the Japanese market; a classic example of creative opportunism involving the procurement of an organization already trading as Tower Records. Opening in Japan without a joint venture partner or franchise agreement was indeed a very bold move, however, one that proved highly successful and gave Tower freedom of movement and a natural image in Japan, both of which have contributed significantly to Tower's continued growth and prosperity. Decades later Tower Japan, as an independent company, has over 50 Japanese Tower Records stores and http://www.tower.co.jp with hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue annually.

By the 80's international commerce had become a major source of revenue for the company and in 1986 Tower opened its doors on to Piccadilly Circus in London, with a magnificent flagship store. In the years following, more stores opened across London and in Glasgow, Scotland. Other locations ensued during wide range global expansion throughout Taiwan, Mexico, Ireland, Israel, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Tower's largest record store in the world opened in 1995 in Shibuya, Japan, with 8 stories devoted to CDs, videos, books and lifestyle items. Not only did the store shatter sales records from its opening day, but continues to do so. 1995 also heralded the opening of Tower's first WOW! multimedia store in association with the Good Guys, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The superstore concept introduced an unparalleled combination of CDs, videos, books, magazines, computer software and consumer electronics hardware, providing customers with a unique shopping experience and further enhancing Tower Records as the ultimate one stop entertainment retailer. WOW! stores have subsequently flourished in 5 west coast US markets.

Other 1995 "firsts" around the world, also included the establishment of Tower Records licensed operations in Bangkok, Thailand, Seoul, South Korea, as well as a store in Toronto, Canada and Tower Records' first Internet music store on America Online. A year later the company launched Tower.com capitalizing on the growth of the Internet and online services, to create and develop digital shopping expertise. Establishing innovative additions to the online product mix has been key to the Tower.com, one of the first to offer used CDs and gift cards both online and in the U.S. stores. Tower.com has aggressively built its commerce initiatives on the Internet employing the services of many partners.

A Joint Venture partnership led to the launch of Tower's first store in Buenos Aires, Argentina and to sustained growth in South America. Through the licensing of the Tower Records brand and retail operational expertise, global development of the Tower retail concept continued throughout the late 90's, even in territories where non-foreign owner retail laws exist. Successful launches in Colombia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Ecuador, and Israel have brought the Tower Records name and retail philosophy to eighteen countries worldwide.

In the new millennium, Tower's operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mexico were converted to licensee run operations. Additionally, Tower successfully re-negotiated the license agreement with our partners for Colombia/Ecuador and witnessed the launch of our newest licensee in the Middle East with the first store in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

As of the date on the bottom of this page, there are 216 Tower Records stores in 11 countries worldwide (120 of these locations in nine countries are operated by our licensees). In July 1999 Tower's parent company, MTS Incorporated, formed a new holding company, Tower Direct, which operates Tower.com. As our store count changes constantly, please contact us for a current total and list of countries.

With a keen eye on the future, Tower Records' commitment to introducing its customers to the latest trends in new product lines is paramount to the organization's retail philosophy. Tower forges ahead with the development of exciting shopping environments, espousing diverse product ranges, cafés, artist performance stages, personal electronics departments, digital centers, and stores that celebrate the unique interests and needs of the local community. At the same time, Tower Records' strong presence online continues to add significant value to the company and to provide online customers with the world's largest selection of music and more.

Aw.... I have liked them...

That beginning store in Sacramento was on 19th, wasn't it? (I only have stayed in Sacto for a week at time a couple of times.)

More's the pity for a place like Berliner's Cornucopia, a small shop in my last home town that sold only Classical and jazz. Wonder if it's still open..

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/112599/cover1125.html

At one time it was just about the biggest music store in Boston. Can't believe they're folding.

the sad part is that it's not just about record/cds obviously. cds as we know them will also be gone with anyone being born now not knowing what they were unless their parents or grandparents have them. but what's really the depressing part to me is that those kids will miss the comraderie of finding another music fan IN THE FLESH ( as opposed to online) to talk to about shared interests. i have a few "best friends" who i met in places like tower records just browsing the aisles. we discovered the joy of being what we thought were the only 2 people who loved some as "yet to be discovered" artist. this happened in 1973 when i met someone buying springsteen's "greeting from asbury parK" at the same time as i did. i think the only other people purchasing this album at the time were related to bruce. and here it is some 33 years later and he's still one of my best friends. music not shared is isolating. and doing it over the internet is just not the same (IMHO) as sitting in a room with friends experiencing the album for the first time together.

but that's the way of the world....:+(

Houston's best music stores have folded also (Cactus and the one in Bellaire which I forgot the name of).

I can't decide whether to participate in the bankruptcy sale or not after reading the details of the bidding. Why should I help the liquidation company profit from their canabalizing Tower Records?




Tower fans sing the blues about shutdown
By Dale Kasler - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, October 8, 2006
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1


Sacramento Bee/Lezlie Sterling


It was crowded at the Tower Records on Broadway Saturday. Just like the old days.

"Usually when I come in here, there's two or three people maybe -- five at the most," Sacramentan Raul Ortega, 20, said as he perched a small stack of hip-hop and rock CDs on the back of his son's baby stroller. "This is the busiest I've ever seen it."

The occasion, of course, was the start of Tower's going-out-of-business sale, launched a day after Tower learned that its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection would end in liquidation. And the dozens of bargain hunters who crowded into the historic store grasped the irony of the situation: If Tower had been this busy the past few years, there wouldn't be any going-out-of-business sale.

"I don't shop here probably as much as I should have," said Erik Malvick, 30, of Sacramento, as he clutched CDs by Thelonius Monk, Bruce Springsteen and others.

Lured by discounts -- 10 percent off music, 20 percent off books and 30 percent off magazines -- consumers headed to Tower in droves. Forty people lined up outside the Broadway music store when it opened for business. The checkout line ran 10 deep by midmorning.

Some customers bought on impulse. Others brought shopping lists with them. All brought a sense of sadness for a retail chain that has been Sacramento's own and is now headed for oblivion.

They had a particular fondness for the Broadway complex -- the music, book and video stores across the street from the theater that gave the company its name. Though Broadway wasn't the first-ever Tower -- that distinction belongs to Watt Avenue -- many Sacramentans regard the site as the chain's flagship.

"I've been coming here since I was a kid," said Joseph Macaluso, 47, of Sacramento, as he sifted through the CD racks. "They should at least keep this one open."

Others spoke of Tower's unique role in music retailing -- that of a company willing to stock hard-to-find music rarely sold at other stores.

"The people who are heavily into jazz and classical -- where are they going to go?" said Jeff Strout, 54, of Sacramento.

Friday afternoon, a federal bankruptcy judge in Wilmington, Del., approved the sale of West Sacramento-based Tower to a Southern California liquidating firm for $134.3 million. The liquidator, Great American Group of Woodland Hills, says the going-out-of-business sales, taking place at all 89 stores across the country, will last eight to 10 weeks.

Great American won a 30-hour, closed-door auction, outdueling retail chain Trans World Entertainment Corp. by $500,000. Trans World, which operates mostly under the FYE brand, would have kept most of Tower's stores open but likely would have phased out the Tower name. Trans World would have liquidated the remainder of the stores.

The bankruptcy case ended with a bit of drama. After the auction ended, Trans World's liquidating partner indicated it would bid an additional $500,000, so Trans World's total bid would have matched that of Great American. But when the lawyers got into the courtroom, the judge declared the auction over and Great American the winner, said Michael Bloom, a lawyer for the record companies.

Bloom had argued that even if its bid was lower, Trans World should be declared the winner because it would have kept the company alive. "The highest bid is not always the best bid," he said Saturday.

Tower opened the first real music "superstore" and operated 200 locations around the world at its peak in the late 1990s. But the company was bedeviled by big-box retailers, Amazon.com and, most recently, the enormous popularity of Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes service.

As she browsed the CD bins, Emily Best, 26, of Sacramento, called herself a loyal Tower shopper but acknowledged that she also buys music from iTunes.

"Now, all of a sudden, I'm feeling very guilty about that," she said.

Good article in the Chronicle today about this -
I was interested in the reactions at the Sunset Strip store...

Some reactions to Tower Records liquidation

I was thinking about this...