Trans World Entertainment history

By the end of 1974, Trans World was a $5.5 million company.

Then, in 1979, the company made a further commitment to the malls, opening its first specialty mall store under the name Tape World, selling prerecorded music tapes rather than records.

By 1982 Trans World had sales of $25 million and was operating 38 retail units.

In 1989 a judge ruled that Trans World had to pay $2.5 million in damages to Peaches Entertainment Corporation.

Trans World had announced a plan in July 1990 to make a public offering of one million shares, 750,000 of which were owned by Higgins and 250,000 by the company.

Recognizing this trend, Trans World Music made several moves in 1993 to take advantage of this huge source of sales. For example, the Walt Disney Company's Beauty and the Beast was not only the best-selling video of 1992 but the best-selling video ever.

Also important to the success of F.Y.E. and other Trans World retail outlets was the fact that by 1993 children ages four to 12 controlled or influenced as much as $132 billion a year in spending.

Recognizing that the market was probably oversaturated with retail music and video stores and that something drastic had to be done to turn Trans World around, Higgins announced on February 2, 1995, that Trans World would close 143 stores.

By 1996 the store closings were beginning to pay off, and net income had risen to $7.1 million.

Though Trans World was to close another 37 stores in 1997, it was also planning to open 70 new stores, 40 of which would be relocations.

By the end of 1999, the stores that came with the purchase of the Ohio company still were losing money, with sales down 4 percent compared to those of the previous year.

On September 23, 2000, Trans World signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of WaxWorks, and the deal was expected to close by the end of October.

In spite of the fact that music sales continued to drop industry-wide through 2001, Trans World profited through sales of DVDs and video games.