Trans World Entertainment

Trans World Entertainment Corporation

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: TWMC
Industry	Retail
Founded	December 1972
Headquarters	Albany, New York
Products	CD, Blu-ray, and DVD stores
Subsidiaries	f.y.e.
Website	www.twec.com

Trans World Entertainment Corporation is a chain of entertainment media retail stores in the United States. It currently operates just over 300 freestanding and shopping mall-based stores under several brand names, down from about 540 in August 2010.

Based out of Albany, New York, Trans World was founded in 1972 by Robert Higgins. It opened its first store, called Record Town (formerly Record Land), in 1973. The company went public in July 1986 and has expanded through acquisitions of a number of smaller or failing companies including Strawberries, Camelot Music, and Wherehouse Entertainment.

On September 23, 2000, Trans World signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of WaxWorks, and the deal was expected to close by the end of October.^[1]

As part of a 2002 settlement with 41 states over CD price fixing Trans World Entertainment, along with retailers Musicland and Tower Records, agreed to pay a $3 million fine.^[2] It is estimated that between 1995 and 2000 customers were overcharged by nearly $500 million and up to $5 per album.^[3]

In February 2006, Trans World acquired the Musicland Group, which owned Sam Goody, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, and Media Play. This also included a handful of On Cue stores.

On Thursday, March 1, 2012, Trans World reported its first fiscal year net income since 2006. Trans World swung to a $2.2 million profit in fiscal year 2011, compared to a net loss of $31 million in fiscal year 2010. The turnaround at Albany, New York-based Trans World came about from cost-cutting, as the company continued to close unprofitable locations, and higher gross margins on the products it sells.^[4]

On Thursday, May 17, 2012, Trans World reported a Q1 net income of $2.8 million,^[5] which is a $5.3 million improvement from Q1 in 2011. Trans World's stock price ended up 18% on the day.^[6]

On Monday, July 9, 2012, Trans World announced that it named John Anderson as acting Chief Financial Officer. Anderson has served in positions of increasing responsibility at Trans World for over 18 years, most recently serving as Controller since September 2006.^[7]

On Thursday, August 16, 2012, Trans World announced their Q2 results; the company reported a $5.4 million decrease in its net loss to $1.9 million, or a loss of $0.06 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $7.3 million, or a loss of $0.23 per diluted share, for the same period last year. These results reflect the tenth consecutive quarter of improvements.^[8]

Also on Thursday, August 16, 2012, Trans World announced that they plan to open several new packaged-media retail stores entering the fourth quarter, including a high-profile location at Annapolis Mall in Maryland starting at the end of September.^[9]

On Wednesday, November 28, 2012, Trans World had two important announcements. First, they sold real property that they owned in South Beach, Miami, Florida, for $30 million. Prior to the sale, Trans World has been leasing the property to Walgreens. They purchased the property for just $7 million back in 2007. Secondly, they announced a $0.47 per share special cash dividend, payable to shareholders as of December 10, 2012. Trans World will pay out $15 million in cash to shareholders in this dividend payout, which will be made on December 26, 2012. The stock rose 8% on the news.^[10]

Chains

• Suncoast Motion Picture Company: Nationwide (mall-based)
• SecondSpin.com: California, Colorado (focusing on purchase and resale of used media products)
• Manifest Discs and Tapes: South Carolina, North Carolina
• Spin Street Music: Memphis, Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut
• Record & Tape Traders: One Location left in Towson, MD
• f.y.e.: Nationwide (mall-based and freestanding)

Defunct

• Camelot Music
• CD World: New Jersey and Missouri
• Coconuts: Chicago area, Indianapolis area, New Jersey, New York, and Mid-Atlantic States (some stores still operate as Coconuts)
• Disc Jockey: Southern U.S. (mall-based)
• Incredible Universe: Nationwide (17 stores; closed in 1996, six stores sold to Fry's Electronics; joint venture with Tandy Corporation)
• Leopold's: California^[11][12]
• Media Play: Nationwide (closed in 2006)
• Music World: New England states
• On Cue: Nationwide
• Peaches: Nationwide
• Record Factory: Brisbane, CA^{[13][14][15][16]}
• Record Land: Nationwide (mall-based)
• Record Town: Nationwide (mall-based)
• Record World: Mid-Atlantic and New England states (mall-based)
• Sam Goody: Nationwide (mostly freestanding; most mall-based stores have been re-branded as f.y.e. stores)
• Saturday Matinee: Now only one location at Rockaway Townsquare in Rockaway, New Jersey; other locations closed or converted to Suncoast; previously operated in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania
• Spec's Music Inc.: Florida
• Square Circle: Nationwide (mall-based)
• Strawberries: Texas, Maryland, New England and Mid-Atlantic States
• Tape World: Nationwide (mall-based)
• The Wall: Mid-Atlantic States
• Wall To Wall Sound & Video / Listening Booth: Mid-Atlantic States, later converted to The Wall
• Planet Music: Virginia Beach
• Wherehouse Entertainment Gardena, CA:^[13] Arizona, California, Colorado (formerly Rocky Mountain Records), Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington^[17]
• Streetside Records: Missouri
• Vibrations: South Florida

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trans World Entertainment.

• Official website
• f.y.e.
• New York Times Trans World Entertainment page