Tower Records is an international retail

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

and

online music store A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings without ...

that was formerly based in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records filed for bankruptcy and

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

. Tower Records was purchased by a separate entity and was not affected by the retail store closings. On November 13, 2020, Tower Records announced that it had returned as an online retailer with plans to open future physical locations.

History

Inception, expansion, and description

In 1960, Russell Solomon opened the first Tower Records store on Broadway, in

. He named it after his father's drugstore, which shared a building and name with the Tower Theatre, where Solomon first started selling records. The first stand-alone Tower Records store was located at 2514 Watt Ave in Arden Arcade, a suburb of Sacramento. By 1976, Solomon had opened Tower Books, Posters, and Plants at 1600 Broadway, next door to another Sacramento Tower Records location. In 1995, Tower.com opened, making the enterprise one of the first retailers to move online. Seven years after its founding, Tower Records expanded to San Francisco, opening a store in what was originally a grocery store at Bay Street and Columbus Avenue. In 1979, Tower Records in Japan started its business as the Japan Branch of MTS Incorporated. The following year,

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

Store, the first in Japan opened. The chain eventually expanded internationally to include stores in Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Ireland, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina. The Tower Records stores in Japan split off from the main chain and are now independent. Arguably the most famous Tower Records outlet was the purpose built building that company staff general-contracted, with many personally contributing their labor, which opened in 1971 on the north west corner of

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...

and Horn Avenue in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

In New York City, Tower Records operated a suite of stores on and near lower

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. The main store was located at the southeast corner of East 4th Street and Broadway. The Tower Records Annex was in the same building, located at the southwest corner of East 4th and

Lafayette Street Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...

. The third store, Tower Video, was located on the southeast corner of East 4th and Lafayette Street, and specialized in video and the second floor of this location also sold books. Their location on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

, near

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

66th Street 66th Street is a crosstown street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan with portions on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side connected across Central Park via the 66th Street transverse. West 66th Street is notab ...

and Broadway, was a magnet for those working in the field of musical theatre. There was also a location in the basement of Trump Tower, and a small clearance annex on 86th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The Nashville location on West End Avenue (across from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

) was in a former

Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Thr ...

dealership. The old showroom floor in front was devoted to CDs, cassettes and vinyl. The area in the back housed videocassette sales and rentals, PC and console games and music paraphernalia. The strip mall next door contained a separate Tower Books. The location was famous for their late-night Monday events that culminated at midnight on Tuesday when staff started ringing up sales of new releases. Because of the store's proximity to

Music Row Music Row is a historic district located southwest of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry, Music Row has also become a metonymous nickname for the music industry as a w ...

, country music stars could occasionally be seen performing or shopping there. As part of a 2002 settlement with 41 states over

CD price fixing Between 1995 and 2000 music companies were found to have used illegal marketing agreements such as minimum advertised pricing to artificially inflate prices of compact discs in order to end price wars by discounters such as Best Buy and Target in ...

Tower Records, along with retailers

Musicland The Musicland Group, Inc. was an entertainment company that ran Musicland, Sam Goody, Discount Records, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, On Cue, and the Media Play Superstore Chains. The Musicland Group was purchased by Best Buy in 2001 at the he ...

and

Trans World Entertainment Kaspien Holdings, Inc. (formerly Trans World Entertainment) is an American company that provides software and services for ecommerce. Kaspien Holdings operates on Amazon in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Germany ...

, agreed to pay a $3 million fine. It is estimated that between 1995 and 2000 customers were overcharged by nearly $500 million and up to $5 per album. In 2005, the company began using "scan and listen" stations in its stores. These stations allowed customers to listen to audio samples from CDs and to search for particular songs, albums and artists. This model of listening station is still used at the Arizona-based chain Zia Records. In 2006, the company introduced the Tower Insider program. The program was free of charge and allowed a customer to receive a membership card that could be scanned with each purchase, allowing the customer to receive coupons and notification of special deals via e-mail. In addition to

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

s and

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

s, the stores sold DVDs
electronic gadgets
like mp3 players, video games, accessories, and toys, and a few Tower Records locations sold books as well, such as those in Fremont, Brea, Mountain View, and Sacramento, California, as well as stores in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Boston, Massachusetts,

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Tower Pulse! magazine

In 1983, the company began publishing a music magazine, '' Pulse!'', which contained record reviews, interviews, and advertising. Initially, it was given away free in their stores to promote their record sales. After nine years, in 1992, the magazine began national distribution with a cover price of $2.95, but it was canceled when the company discontinued U.S. operations. From 1983 until December 2002 Tower Records published it monthly, 222 issues in all.

Bankruptcy

Tower Records entered

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

bankruptcy for the first time in 2004. Factors cited were the heavy debt incurred during its aggressive expansion in the 1990s, growing competition from mass discounters and

Internet piracy Online piracy or software piracy is the practice of downloading and distributing copyrighted works digitally without permission, such as music or software. The principle behind piracy has predated the creation of the Internet, but its online popul ...

. Mismanagement, managerial incompetence, and crippling restrictions from the first bankruptcy deal also contributed to Tower's demise. Some observers took a pragmatic view. As

Robert Moog Robert Arthur Moog ( ; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesi ...

, inventor of the

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

, has stated: "I'm sorry if Tower Records' and Blockbuster's sales plummet. On the other hand, it wasn't that long ago that those megastore chains drove a lot of neighborhood record stores out of business." In February 2004, the debt was estimated to be between $80 million and $100 million, and assets totaled just over $100 million. On August 20, 2006, Tower Records filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time, in order to facilitate a purchase of the company prior to the holiday shopping season.

Liquidation

On October 6, 2006, Great American Group won an auction of the company's assets and commenced liquidation proceedings the following day. This included going-out-of-business sales at all U.S. Tower Records locations, the last of which closed on December 22, 2006. The Tower Records website was sold separately. The managers of

f.y.e. 2428392, Inc. (doing business as FYE, the initials for For Your Entertainment) is an American chain of entertainment retail stores headquartered in Albany, New York. Formerly owned by Trans World Entertainment, it began in 1993 and was expande ...

, a music store chain based in shopping malls, had negotiated a deal to acquire the two historic Tower locations in the latter's home base of Sacramento. f.y.e. later backed out, stating that the "leases aren't what we thought they were". f.y.e. did acquire the lease of the West End Avenue store in

, which eventually closed in 2011. f.y.e. also took over Tower Records in Torrance, which continued to operate until early 2016. Rasputin Music, a new and used music and video store based in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

, expanded in the

Central Valley of California The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific coast of the state. It covers ...

by acquiring the leases for the former Tower Records stores in

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

and Stockton.

Other stores

Tower Records for rent in Lincoln Park, Chicago

The Landmark Plaza Tower Records Store in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

was permanently closed on December 18, 2006, and the

Tysons Corner, Virginia Tysons, also known as Tysons Corner, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, developed from the corner of Chain Bridge Road ( SR 123) and the Leesburg Pike ( SR 7). Located in Northern Virginia between the c ...

, store permanently closed on December 21, 2006. The noted 24-year-old store in Washington, D.C. (

Foggy Bottom Foggy Bottom is one of the oldest late 18th- and 19th-century neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., located west of the White House and downtown Washington, in the Northwest quadrant. It is bounded roughly by 17th Street NW to the east, Rock Cr ...

) closed down the next day, as did the store in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia. On Friday, December 22, 2006 – 40 years after Solomon had opened the first Tower Records store in Sacramento – the last Tower Records store in New York City, located at 1961 Broadway, one block north of

, on

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

West Side West Side or Westside may refer to: Places Canada * West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario * West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Westside, Birmingham E ...

, closed permanently along with all of the other remaining Tower Records stores in the United States. The final Tower Records store (in the

Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00) ...

) to be closed was the one in Mountain View, which closed at 5:00 p.m. One building in Sacramento had been a Tower Records store for 40 years, and the lot across the street had been the location where Solomon began selling records in 1941. R5 Records closed on June 4, 2010, and was sold to rival Dimple Records, which reopened the store in mid-July 2010. The Tower Records building in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, located at the intersection of

Newbury Street Newbury Street is located in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. It runs roughly east–west, from the Boston Public Garden to Brookline Avenue. The road crosses many major arteries along its path, with an entranc ...

and

Massachusetts Avenue Massachusetts Avenue may refer to: * Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston), Massachusetts ** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Orange Line station), a subway station on the MBTA Orange Line ** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Silver Line station), a stati ...

, was instrumental in the conversion of the former street's commercial value. The eight-story building, renovated by

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

in the late 80s, is prominently visible from the eastbound

Massachusetts Turnpike The Massachusetts Turnpike (colloquially "Mass Pike" or "the Pike") is a toll highway in the US state of Massachusetts that is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). The turnpike begins at the New York state li ...

. The store (which occupied the first five stories) featured gold stars of Boston artists (including

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 20 ...

New Kids on the Block New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block enjoy ...

, and

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (''Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

) embedded in the front landing.

Virgin Megastore Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street. In 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street and Tottenha ...

took over the store from 2002 to 2007. The space was later a

Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...

store and, after being vacant for some time, in 2016 was opened as a

T.J. Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American department store chain, selling at prices generally lower than other major similar stores. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in ...

store.Goodison, Donna
"T.J. Maxx coming to long-vacant Newbury Street spot in Back Bay"
''Boston Herald'', Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Online return

On-line merchant Caiman, Inc., reopened the website from

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

, on June 1, 2007. This company also announced plans to reopen the stores themselves—opening stores in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco within the next nine months, however this never came to fruition. They hired former Tower buyer Kevin Hawkins to assist with the re-opening (Hawkins, along with former Tower employee George Scarlett, then left Caiman). In 2009, Richard Flynn was hired as President. The website remained based in Montreal, but the relaunch of the brand never moved forward. As of November 2020, Tower Records re-opened their online store with a new website, once again selling vinyl records among other merchandise, which also features an online version of ''Pulse'' that is updated regularly.

Tower Labs

In October 2022, Tower Labs was opened in Brooklyn, New York, marking the first physical iteration of the brand since 2006. “The intention of Tower Labs is for artists and bands to host personal gatherings with their community, similar to a backstage experience,” says Tower Records’ new president, Danny Zeijdel. “In an increasingly digital world, it is imperative for artists to have a physical space where they can connect and create.” Tower Labs is a creative space, as the brand continues to explore the potential reopening of a flagship retail location.

International stores

Argentina

Tower Records operated nine stores in Argentina in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Pilar, San Isidro,

Puerto Madryn Puerto Madryn (; cy, Porth Madryn), also known as ''Madryn'', is a city in the province of Chubut in Argentine Patagonia. It is the capital of the Viedma Department, and has about 93,995 inhabitants according to the last census in 2010. Puer ...

, Córdoba, and

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...

. It opened its first store in 1997 and closed its last in 2006.

Canada

Tower Records operated in Canada in the mid-1990s with a flagship store at the

Toronto Eaton Centre The Toronto Eaton Centre (corporately styled as the CF Toronto Eaton Centre since September 2015, and commonly referred to simply as the Eaton Centre) is a shopping mall and office complex in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is ...

at the corner of Queen and Yonge which opened in December 1995 and closed in 2001. Tower Records opened a second location in Toronto in the late nineties at Empress Walk in North York, also on Yonge Street, but it was closed just prior to the flagship store closing.

Hong Kong

Tower Records opened stores in Hong Kong in the 1990s. There were two stores, one located on the seventh floor of Times Square at

Causeway Bay Causeway Bay is list of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong, an area and Victoria Park, Hong Kong, a bay on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, straddling the border of the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern and the Wan Chai District, Wan Chai ...

, the other at

Diamond Hill Diamond Hill is a hill in the east of Kowloon, Hong Kong. The name also refers to the area on or adjacent to the hill. It is surrounded by Ngau Chi Wan, San Po Kong, Wong Tai Sin and Tsz Wan Shan. Its northeast is limited by the ridge. It is pr ...

Ireland

Tower Records is operated in Ireland by Record & Discs Ltd. (owned by

Press Up Entertainment Press Up Entertainment is a cinema, hotel, pub, retail and restaurant operator based in Dublin, Ireland. Ownership is shared between Paddy McKillen, Jr., son of Paddy McKillen, and Matt Ryan. Their properties include the Clarence Hotel, the De ...

) under a licensed franchise of MTS Incorporated (USA). , two stores still operate in Ireland both located in Dublin, one on

Dawson Street Dawson Street (; ) is a street on the southern side of central Dublin, running from St Stephen's Green to the walls of Trinity College Dublin. It is the site of the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Mansion House. Location Dawson Stre ...

and the other on

O'Connell Street O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections ...

upstairs in

Easons Eason Retail PLC, known as Easons or Eason, is an Irish retail company best known for selling books, stationery, cards, gifts, newspapers and magazines. Headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, it is the largest supplier of books, magazines and ne ...

Israel

Tower Records Israel opened in 1993; a joint venture between Tower Records USA (MTS INC of W. Sacramento, CA) and two local businessmen. The Founding Director was Joel Abramson, who had previously managed Tower's flagship Sunset Strip location in Los Angeles. The first three locations were in Tel Aviv (the Opera Tower), Haifa (Hutzot HaMifratz, opened in early 1995) and Jerusalem (1995). The Tel Aviv location, with its beachfront location, was a popular shopping spot for Israeli pop stars like David Broza, Meir Ariel, Aviv Gefen, Riki Gal and others. TRI closed its final location in Ra'anana in November 2015.

Japan

In 1979, Tower Records in Japan started its business as the Japan Branch of MTS Incorporated. The following year,

Store, the first in Japan opened. In 1981, Japanese subsidiary Tower Records Japan Inc. (TRJ) was established. In October 2002, TRJ went independent from the international chain by

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

. The bankruptcy of Tower Records in the U.S. in 2006 did not affect TRJ as it had been completely independent (as of 2015, NTT DoCoMo and

Seven & I Holdings is a Japanese diversified retail group headquartered in Nibancho, Tokyo. Seven & I was founded in 1920 as Ito-Yokado, the Japanese chain of general merchandise and department stores. In 1991, Ito-Yokado acquired majority control of 7-Eleven, t ...

are the main stakeholders). As of October 1, 2014, TRJ maintains 85 directly operated store locations throughout Japan, including 10 Tower Mini Stores, and the

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

Store in Tokyo (moved to the current location in March 1995) which is said to be one of the biggest music retail outlets in the world, occupying selling space of 5,000 m² (9 floors). TRJ also publishes free magazines ''Tower'', ''bounce'', and ''intoxicate'' directly and through its subsidiary NMNL. In 2014, Tower Records launched the music review website ''Mikiki'', which also posts content from the previously mentioned magazines. In addition to being the leading CD retailer in Japan, TRJ was the majority stakeholder in Napster Japan, a joint venture between TRJ and Napster LLC. On March 1, 2010, Napster Japan and TRJ announced that Napster Japan would terminate all of its services on May 31, 2010 due to the difficulty in covering the costs for maintaining the required systems to continue the services. Tower Records Japan has a subsidiary record label called

T-Palette Records T-Palette Records is a Japanese record label, specializing in idols. It is a subsidiary of the Japanese franchise of Tower Records. History The record label was launched in June 2011. The first artist of the new label, Vanilla Beans, was re ...

, which specializes in

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

performers.

Mexico

The first Tower Records store in Mexico opened in the mid-1990s in the Zona Rosa area featuring 3 floors and a live DJ. After international bankruptcy, the stores were acquired by Promotora Musical, a retail company owned by

Grupo Carso Grupo Carso is a Mexican global Conglomerate (company), conglomerate company owned by Carlos Slim. It was formed in 1990 after the merger of Corporación Industrial Carso and Grupo Inbursa. The name Carso stands for Carlos Slim and Soumaya Domit ...

, the same owner of Mixup record stores. There were Tower Records stores in Mexico City (Gran Sur, Altavista and Mundo E), and Monterrey (Paseo San Pedro). , but eventually closed. The store in Puebla (Las Animas) currently operates.

Philippines

Tower Records opened three stores in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in the 1990s. The first branch was located in Glorietta 3 Ayala Center Makati City which opened in 1998. The second store was in Alabang Town Center Muntinlupa City which opened in 1999. The third store was in Robinson's Place Manila, all of which are in the National Capital Region. As of 2018, all these branches have closed. In 2020, Tower Records Philippines has been re-launched and re-opened because of Filipino girl group Baby Blue a sub-unit of idol girl group

MNL48 MNL48 (read as ''M.N.L. Forty-eight'') is a Filipino idol girl group based in Manila, Philippines. Formed in 2018, they are the fourth international sister group of AKB48, after Indonesia's JKT48, China's SNH48 (''former''), and Thailand's BNK48 ...

Singapore

Tower Records opened stores in Singapore in the 1990s. Singapore had two Tower Records outlets, one at Pacific Plaza that opened in 1993 and the other at Suntec City. Tower Records Pacific Plaza moved out in 2001 and the latter closed its doors in 2006 when Tower Records filed for bankruptcy globally and eventually folded.

South Korea

Tower Records opened stores in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in the 1990s, with stores in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

and

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

. The Seoul branch became part of Synnara Record (now Media Synnara) and is now part of M2U Record, while the Busan branch has closed. The Seoul branch was used as one of the main filming locations for

Seoul Broadcasting System Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) () is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. The broadcaster legally became known as SBS in March 2000, changing its corporate name from Seoul Broadcasting System (서울방송). Its f ...

's 2001 drama '' Beautiful Days'', starring

Lee Byung-hun Lee Byung-hun (; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He has received critical acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably ''Joint Security Area'' (2000); ''A Bittersweet Life'' (2005); ''The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' ...

Choi Ji-woo Choi Ji-woo (born Choi Mi-hyang on June 11, 1975) is a South Korean actress. Considered one of South Korea's most beautiful women, she has received critical acclaim for her work in a wide range of melodramas, most notably '' Beautiful Days'' (2 ...

Ryu Si-won Ryu Si-won (; born 6 October 1972) is a South Korean actor and singer. After he made his debut in the KBS drama ''Feeling'' in 1994, Ryu pursued a singing career. He was convicted of stalking his wife (now ex wife) in 2013. Early life Ryu was ...

Shin Min-a Shin Min-a (; born 5 April 1984) is a South Korean model and actress best known for starring in television dramas ''A Love to Kill'' (2005), ''My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox'' (2010), ''Arang and the Magistrate'' (2012), ''Oh My Venus'' ...

Lee Jung-hyun Lee Jung-hyun (born February 7, 1980), also known by her occasional stage name Ava, is a South Korean pop singer and actress. She was first recognized for her acting abilities with award-winning role in her first film and has been solidified as ...

and Lee Yoo-jin.

Taiwan

Tower Records opened three megastores in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

in the 1990s. All stores were located in popular areas of Taipei, and became centers of fashion and music during their existence. The stores closed in December 2003.

Thailand

Tower Records opened stores in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

in the 1990s, introducing comprehensive music CD stocking into Thailand for the first time with revolutionary effects on the retail music business. There were several stores in Bangkok, including three megastores inside popular malls. One of the biggest megastores was located on the top floor of

CentralWorld CentralWorld ( th, เซ็นทรัลเวิลด์, styled as centralwOrld) is a shopping plaza and complex in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the ninth largest shopping complex in the world. The complex, which includes a hotel and office t ...

mall in central

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

. In the 2000s as business declined due to piracy and the downloading revolution, the stores were progressively closed and the remaining ones were eventually sold to another dealer.

United Kingdom

Tower Records in the UK was originally a London-based concern, with a first store in

Kensington High Street Kensington High Street is the main shopping street in Kensington, London, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Kensington High Street is the continuation of Kensington Road and part ...

in 1984 being followed the next year by a flagship outlet at 1 Piccadilly Circus and later two more smaller outlets at

Whiteleys Whiteleys was a shopping centre in Bayswater, London. It was built in the retail space of the former William Whiteley Limited department store, which opened in 1911 as one of London's first department stores, and was one of the main department ...

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

, and Kingston. However, by the start of the 1990s the chain had grown to encompass a number of other stores, with large entertainment stores also selling movies, books, magazines and games in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, as well as a number of smaller stores that had been purchased from rival American retailer

Sam Goody Sam Goody was a music and entertainment retailer in the United States and United Kingdom, operated by The Musicland Group, Inc. It was purchased by Best Buy in 2000, sold to Sun Capital Partners in 2003, and filed for bankruptcy in 2006, clos ...

when it had left the UK marketplace (an example of this express format was in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

). However, with tough trading conditions in the UK market, as well as the company's trouble in the States, the firm followed Sam Goody in retreating from the UK market. The London stores in

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

and

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

were sold to

Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding c ...

in 2003, who for a while traded under the Tower brand at the former site until the store could be fully refurbished, while the other stores were closed. The store was subsequently renamed

Zavvi Zavvi is an online retailer of entertainment products, including Blu-rays, collectables, homeware and toys. Originally a physical retailer, the brand has been online only since it was bought from administration by The Hut Group in 2009. History ...

in September 2007 after a

of the

Virgin Megastores Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street. In 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street and Tottenha ...

. Zavvi entered administration in late 2008 and administrators closed the Piccadilly store on Wednesday, January 14, 2009. the site is occuplied by a non-music retailer.

Documentaries

The 2015 documentary '' All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records'' by filmmaker

Colin Hanks Colin Lewes Hanks (born November 24, 1977) is an American actor. He has starred in films including ''Orange County'', ''King Kong'', ''The House Bunny'', ''The Great Buck Howard'', and the ''Jumanji'' film series. His television credits include ' ...

chronicles the rise and fall of Tower Records, using archival footage and exclusive interviews with former staff, especially Russell Solomon and former COO Stan Goman, as well as celebrity customers

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

. Another documentary called ''Art Gods'' (2013) is an oral history of the development of an influential in-store display design ethic at Tower, originating from the Berkeley location.

References

External links

Towerrecords.com

The Tower Records Project
– ''an archives project and campaign to archive Tower Records history.''
Tower Records Mexico: Locations

Tower Records Dublin Ireland: About Us

Tower Records Japan

Tower.com
– ''purchased the name in U.S.'' -now redirects to their current website. * {{Authority control Music retailers of the United States Music retailers of the United Kingdom Online music stores of the United States Retail companies based in California Bookshops of the United Kingdom Companies based in Sacramento, California Landmarks in Los Angeles American companies established in 1960 Retail companies established in 1960 Retail companies disestablished in 2006 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006 1960 establishments in California 2006 disestablishments in California Defunct retail companies of the United States