Before Target and Walmart began their takeover in music sales, a hippie record store franchise based out of Sacramento, CA served as the go-to spot for music lovers. Established in 1960, the rise and fall of Tower Records retail store was finally told on Tuesday at SXSW. “All Things Must Pass” premiered at the ZACH Theatre in Austin, Texas during the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. The film took an inside look at the business journey of Tower Records, which at one time had 200 stores in 30 countries worldwide. The documentary was directed by Tom Hank’s son, Colin Hanks. The Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actor launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2011 and raised $92,000 for the film. It took seven years to make the documentary. This was his first film project. Russ Solomon, founder of Tower Records, was in attendance at the premiere of “All Things Must Pass.” Even former employees were in the audience too to show support of the film. Although Tower Records, at the height of its existence, reached $1 billion in sales in 1999. Unfortunately, the emergence of retail discounters like Best Buy and Walmart made it difficult for Tower Records to compete with their price points. The retail chain filed for bankruptcy in 2006 eventually closing all of their U.S. stores. A few Tower Records stores are currently open in Japan. Source: AP
