Tower Records, is up for sale in bankruptcy court, left behind by consumers who have turned to digital music and big-box superstores and their discounted prices.
The shift in how people buy music signals corporate problems for Tower, started in 1960 by Russ Solomon selling records out of his father's drugstore in Sacramento, California. Tower was known to make bold business moves such as the entry into the Japanese market in the seventies, with out a franchise.
The eighties saw them moving more into international commerce, when in 1986 they opened their Picadilly Circus store in London. They quickly moved into markets throughout Europe and Asia.
But, according to this WashingtonPost.com article, over the past decade, as such larger retailers as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. and Target Corp. undercut record-store prices and combined shopping for music with shopping for a variety of other consumer products, the music-focused stores started to die. Although Tower began selling music downloads on its site in June, digital music sales through such services as iTunes and Amazon.com have also taken a bite.
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