Tower Records has relaunched as an online music store.
The iconic music retailer, which closed its U.S. physical locations in 2006 after filing for bankruptcy, returned as an online store earlier week. In addition to selling music and merch, the new Tower Records website also features online music performances and the return of the company’s Tower Pulse! magazine.
The music chain’s relaunch was originally scheduled to coincide with this year’s South by Southwest in March, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Along with reviving its website, Tower Records also had planned to open a series of pop-up shops, the Bay Area’s ABC7 reports.
Tower Records CEO Danny Zeijdel says the music chain’s relaunch “has been met with tremendous success, feedback. A lot of people are so happy taking pictures of when they receive an order from Tower Records, posting it on Instagram.”
Founded by Russ Solomon in Sacramento in 1960, Tower Records revolutionized music retailing until digital music took over the business. At its peak, the retailer had $1.1 billion in revenue from 173 stores, of which 106 stores were in the U.S. The company went out of business in late 2006, following two bankruptcy filings that quickly turned into a Chapter 7 liquidation.
The rise and fall of Tower Records was documented in the 2015 film All Things Must Pass, which was narrated by Solomon, who died in 2018.