| Type | Public (NASDAQ: TWMC) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | December 1972 |
| Headquarters | Albany, New York |
| Products | CD, Blu-ray, and DVD stores |
| Website | http://www.twec.com |
Trans World Entertainment Corporation is a chain of entertainment media retail stores in the United States. It currently operates just over 440 freestanding and shopping mall-based stores under several brand names.
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.
In February 2006, Trans World acquired the Musicland Group, which owned Sam Goody, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, and former online store Media Play.
In September 2006, Trans World made bid for the bankrupt Tower Records[1] but lost to Great American Group, a liquidator which closed the chain.
On January 7, 2009 Trans World announced same-store sales decreased 14 percent for the nine-week period that ended January 3, 2009 and total sales dropped 24 percent in the period. Some of the overall decline came as a result of closing 35 stores earlier in the year. Trans World was also in the process of closing another 69 stores during the holidays said Chief Financial Officer John J. Sullivan, "We would expect more closures to be announced soon." Trans World's holiday sales projections already were glum, but with the actual results now in, company officials are projecting losses for fiscal 2008 in the range of $20 million to $25 million.
On May 10, 2010, Mike Honeyman was appointed as President and Chief Operating Officer of the company.[2]
As of August 2011, Trans World's total number of stores stands at 442, down from about 540 in August 2010.
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