This is a sad day for me. I used to spend all my childhood allowance at my local Tower store and would organize all the Prince sections while I was at it (remember when ever 7 inch and 12 inch had it's own bin card???)

As one who dealt with Tower almost every day for the last 5 years...it saddens me to see so many of my friends without jobs.....

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TOWER FALLS

The chain that began in the back of a Sacramento drug store owned by Russ Solomon’s father and grew to be the leading record retailer in the world is shutting down.
Tower Records will be liquidated beginning tomorrow after Great American, the lead-bidder in a 30-hour auction, bid $134.3 million for the property.

The liquidator put together a consortium of other suitors who were bidding on different components of the retailer. Earlier in the day, it had appeared that maybe Trans World would acquire the famed retail chain, but that report was erroneous.

UMGD President Jim Urie told Billboard: “It's a sad day for the music business and I feel badly for all Tower employees. Tower was probably the greatest brand that will ever exist in music retail.”

The company owed some $200 million to its major label creditors.

In court. Michael Bloom, a partner with Philadelphia law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, which represents the creditors committee, questioned if the winning bid was actually the best. Trans World's partners, Hilco Merchant Resources, LLC., upped its bid by $500,000 after the auction closed, matching Great American's bid, making it more attractive to Tower’s 2700 employees and its trade creditors.

But U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Brendan L. Shannon ruled in favor of the Great American bid, noting it was important to vindicate the Chapter 11 auction process.

Tower Records could live on via Tower.com. Norton LLC, part of the Great American consortium, put up $3.8 million to acquire Tower.com and the now-defunct Pulse Magazine.

Out-of-business sales at Tower's stores will begin tomorrow.

RIP, Tower Records...

I've known alot of people who worked there.

Wow,this caught me by surprise.I knew Tower Records were having problems,but I always thought they would be around.

Very sad. I went 2 the big 1 in our town this weekend and did some "Going Out of Business Sale" shopping. There r no music retailers left! at least none that could offer some selection worth a damn. Tower will b missed.

I bought most of my cd collection there. damn.

growing up in Colorado, I didn't get to meet Tower until the summer of 1989 when I stayed in D.C. It's where I bought the "Batman" album. Then I was off to Boston. That's where my love of Tower began. Most of my 12" Prince collection is from that store.

That really is too bad! They carried a lot of things I couldn't find anywhere else. I think I might head over and see what they have left...

Tower has been falling off the last 5 years or so but some of my most favorite and best music shopping expeirences happened there

Think this'll eventually happen to the other chains?

INSATIABLE said:

they'll have to diversify. bring in coffee bars and sell books and crap.
like Barnes and Noble..Borders...Best Buy....

purplerein said:

Yuck.

I think I've only bought one CD ever in my life at Tower when traveling. We never had the retailer in Cleveland.

This is saddening, though. I always knew how beloved an icon they were.

One less corporate record chain. amen.

isn't that where Chico works?