Tower Records up for Sale
FOUNDED 1857 SATURDAY MAY 10, 2003 www.sacbee.com • • • $1.50 Tower Records Up For Sale By Dale Kasler Staff Writer Tower Records, humbled by debts buyers would want to keep and edging closer to bankruptcy, has those facilities intact. put itself up for sale. That would be a relief to Capping a painful, two-year struggle West Sacramento, where the to regain prosperity, Sacramento's company has kept a low profile Solomon family hired a Los Angeles but is still a major -- and presti- investment banker to find a buyer for gious -- employer. the legendary music retailer, that bank "Having a company like said Friday. Tower Records headquartered Founded in Sacramento in 1960, in West Sacramento gives us Tower grew into an international brand tremendous bragging rights," and pioneered the era of the music said Val Toppenberg, the city's Tower founder Russ Solomon, right, and son megastore. In the past few years, how- redevelopment director. Michael at the West Sacramento headquarters. ever, the rise of discounters and the The Solomons declined com- Internet sapped its strength. ment Friday. that business -- it's a turbulent time." The decision to sell followed Tower's The decision to sell wasn't surprising Greif indicated that the Solomons, declaration on April 29 that it might to many in the music industry, given whose patriarch, Russ Solomon, miss a $5.2 million interest payment on Tower's financial troubles and the founded the company, could play a its bonds. slump facing music retailers. Chilmark role in the post-sale Tower. Although Tower, which also sells Partners, a Chicago investment bank "Russ Solomon's relationships in the books, has had other brushes with hired by Tower in 2001, tried to sell industry are the envy of virtually bankruptcy in the past two years, the the company's U.S.
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