Sacramento-Based Tower Records Makes Comeback With Online Marketplace
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento music icon is back. Tower Records is selling vinyl, cassettes and CDs again – not over the counter but online.
Photos of yester-year show the focused faces of music fans shopping for records at Tower Records, which was founded in Sacramento in 1960. Now 14 years after the company declared bankruptcy and closed some 200 stores in 2006, people will be able pick out their favorite tunes at Tower again.
"I think it's really cool that Tower Records is back especially because it's such a legendary brand within Sacramento," Orlando Wilkerson, said.
"Just seeing it come back online is pretty great," Korey Gonzales said.
The music retail mecca is coming back with an online marketplace where people can purchase albums, cassettes and vinyl records from the new Tower Records website.
"It's hard for any business to come back online during a pandemic because of all of the restriction you face," Jack Carda said.
"It's great that they have this big catalog of artists and music. But, I still miss Tower," Andrea Lepore, Co-Found Solomon's Delicatessen, said.
Lepore's restaurant is named after Tower Records' found Russ Solomon, who she knew from 2009 until his death in 2018. The restaurateur told CBS13 while there is a little bit of excitement for Tower Records coming back with the online store, it doesn't strike the same chord as shopping at one of their former brick and mortar locations.
"There's obviously the nostalgia in the brand and in Tower. But, so much of what Tower was, was the employees, starting with Russ obviously," Lepore said. "They were such community gathering places that online experience is really not the same."
Though there could be a new community connection for those scrolling through the storied Sacramento-based music mecca.
"There's chance that they can build that community and nostalgia but, digitally," Hayden Spilman said.
"I think it can create a new nostalgia for people that really don't know about Tower Records for go online and stuff like that for their vinyl," Gonzales said.
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