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Tower Records history
Tower Records company history timeline
In 1960, Russell Solomon opened the first Tower Records store on Broadway, in Sacramento, California.
He borrowed heavily to finance the business and in 1960, after eight years of struggle, he went bankrupt.
In 1963, the company opened the first Tower Books location. 'It was a way for me to get books cheap,' Russ Solomon once told Billboard magazine.
In addition to bringing the store back to life, the documentary taught me its backstory: Tower Records began in a Sacramento drugstore owned by Russ Solomon’s father, and Solomon opened his second outpost on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco in 1968.
The chain built a store in Los Angeles on the Sunset Strip in 1969.
1970: Showcase store on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood opens.
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 and Horn Avenue in West Hollywood.
Peter Criss and Paul Stanley of Kiss in 1974 on Sunset Strip
By 1976, Solomon had opened Tower Books, Posters, and Plants at 1600 Broadway, next door to another Sacramento Tower Records location.
In 1979, Tower Records in Japan started its business as the Japan Branch of MTS Incorporated.
In 1979, Solomon was approached by a group of Japanese businesspeople who proposed opening Tower franchise stores in Japan.
In the end, Tower took over the Sapporo store and began doing business there in April 1980.
Tower Records Sunset Strip Circa 1980
1981: First Tower video store opens.
Tower Records founder Russ Solomon at the Tower Records store opening in New York in 1983.
Tower was already well-established in its first overseas market before it cracked New York City in 1983.
In 1983, the company began publishing a music magazine, Pulse!, which contained record reviews, interviews, and advertising.
1985: Piccadilly Circus store in London, England opens.
In March 1986, Todd Rundgren performed at a Japanese Tower Records store, the first foreign artist to make an in-store appearance in a Japanese record store.
In 1989, at a time when the rest of the record industry viewed video with suspicion, Tower made a significant commitment to selling that product.
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 United States operations.
Tower sent a wave of panic through independent labels and distributors in September 1993 when it announced that it was consolidating its vendors.
Just one year later, the company opened stores in the Japanese cities of Shibuya and Yokahama, and by the end of 1993 there were 16 Tower Records locations in Japan.
Tower made its first venture into the clothing business in the summer of 1993.
In 1995, Tower.com opened, making the enterprise one of the first retailers to move online.
In May 1996, it opened a second large Seoul store.
Tower had established a solid beachhead in South Korea by spring 1996.
Tower's three stores in Israel, in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem, also were thriving by 1996 and the chain was planning to add five more there by the end of the decade.
In September 1997 it became the first international music retailer to enter the Malaysian market.
The year 1997 saw Tower expand its international activities significantly.
By 1998 at least one-third of all Tower's sales came from stores outside the United States.
Solomon eventually opened 189 stores around the world, and the franchise made $1 billion dollars by 1999.
2000: First Tower 2 concept stores open within Good Guys automotive stores locations in Las Vegas.
As part of a 2002 settlement with 41 states over CD price fixing Tower Records, along with retailers Musicland and Trans World Entertainment, agreed to pay a $3 million fine.
In February 2004, the debt was estimated to be between $80 million and $100 million, and assets totalled just over $100 million.
Tower Records entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the first time in 2004.
In 2005, the company began using "scan and listen" stations in its stores.
On October 6, 2006, Great American Group won an auction of the company's assets and commenced liquidation proceedings the following day.
Then things took a dramatic turn: In 2006, the company filed for bankruptcy.
Bits of the company were sold but basically, in 2006 it went bust, shut its doors and was written off, ending a 46 year history.
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| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Books-A-Million | 1917 | $474.1M | 5,400 | 165 |
| Powell's Books | 1971 | $45.0M | 500 | - |
| Amoeba Music | - | $26.2M | 200 | - |
| Alibris | 1997 | $28.5M | 25 | - |
| Whitey's Ice Cream | 1933 | $17.0M | 300 | - |
| Winner Ford | - | $8.6M | 78 | - |
| G.I. Joe's | 1952 | - | 1,350 | - |
| FAO Schwarz | 1862 | $33.0M | 149 | - |
| Chair King Backyard Store | 1950 | $38.8M | 77 | 2 |
| Right On Casuals | - | $24.0M | 165 | - |
Tower Records history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Tower Records, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Tower Records. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Tower Records. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Tower Records. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Tower Records and its employees or that of Zippia.
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