The Obituary
Tower Records began in 1960 when Russ Solomon opened a record shop in Sacramento, and it grew into a global chain of around 200 stores defined by deep catalogs, late hours, and a near-religious devotion to music. Two forces broke it: a heavy debt load from rapid expansion, and the collapse of CD sales as Napster and the iTunes download remade the industry. After a 2004 bankruptcy and restructuring, the U.S. company filed again and was liquidated in 2006, its stores auctioned off. Overseas franchises in Japan and elsewhere outlived the American original.
Worth remembering
- At its peak it ran around 200 stores worldwide and over $1 billion in annual sales.
- Its Sunset Strip flagship was a music-industry landmark; the chain's fall was chronicled in the 2015 documentary 'All Things Must Pass'.
Sources
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.