FYE (retailer)

2428392, Inc. (doing business as FYE, the initials for For Your Entertainment) is an American chain of entertainment retail stores headquartered in Albany, New York. Formerly owned by Trans World Entertainment,[2] it began in 1993[3] and was expanded in 2001, 2006, and again in 2009 after buying out and rebranding mall-based stores Camelot, Sam Goody, Spec's Music, Strawberries, Record Town, Coconuts, DiscJockey, Saturday Matinee, The Wall, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, Musicland, Media Play, and His Master's Voice stores. There are 206 locations as of May 2019. As of 2023, FYE is a unit of 2428392, Inc. and retained its headquarters.

For other uses, see FYE (disambiguation).
2428392, Inc.
FYE
IndustryRetail
Founded1993 (1993) (as f.y.e.)
Trumbull, Connecticut, US
HeadquartersAlbany, New York, U.S.[1]
Number of locations
210 (as of 2021)
ProductsCDs, vinyl records, Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray/DVDs, electronics, video games, merchandise, candy
ParentTrans World Entertainment (1993–2020)
Sunrise Records (2020–present)
Websitefye.com
Logo used from 2001 to 2017

History
FYE store, Tower City Center, Cleveland, Ohio

The first FYE store opened in 1993 at the Trumbull Mall in Trumbull, Connecticut.[4][5] A second opened in 1995 at Eastview Mall in Victor, New York, and a third at Colonie Center in Colonie, New York in 1997.[6]

In 2001, Trans World unified its other mall-based stores under the "f.y.e." name after buying out Camelot Music. During that year, a major re-branding campaign made f.y.e. the brand name for all of Trans World Entertainment's mall-based retail stores as well as many freestanding locations, though some freestanding or strip mall stores continued to operate under regional brands like Planet Music. In 2016 the company changed the store and website branding to "FYE".

In 2006, Trans World began remodeling buildings that were former Coconut stores and Media Play outlets near Salt Lake City, Utah and Buffalo, New York into FYE superstores. In 2009 FYE closed over 100 locations[7] and 52 more in 2012.

2016 saw Trans World opening new FYE concept stores in multiple locations (such as the Rockaway Townsquare in Rockaway, New Jersey), with a new logo and look, a larger focus on pop-culture related items, an expanded selection of vinyl records and modern turntables, while the selection of Blu-rays, DVDs and CDs has been reduced.

In March 2017, FYE founder and CEO Bob Higgins died. Higgins was responsible for the creating the FYE brand as well as maintaining its profitability and therefore its status as the last remaining music chain store.[8]

In November 2018, FYE's parent company was accused in federal court of deceiving customers by asking them to sign up for "free" and/or "loyalty" membership programs and magazine subscriptions while charging their credit and debit cards $11.99 per month until customers cancelled the services. Another allegation was that customer information was shared with marketing company Synapse without customer consent.[9][10]

In 2018, 33 FYE stores were closed, and 35 more were scheduled to be closed before the end of Trans World's fiscal year on February 2, 2019.[11]

In the fiscal year ended Feb 1, 2020, FYE posted a loss of $50.7 million for the retail chain, more than double of the previous year.[12] Later the same year Sunrise Records announced and subsequently finalized their purchase of FYE from TWEC.[13][14][15]

Nameplates

Though the majority of chains acquired by parent company Trans World Entertainment were completely converted into FYE stores (many of which have since closed), a few chains have had a handful of stores kept open, though otherwise being stocked and operated the same as a traditional FYE except for the nameplate. These are:

See also

References
  1. "FYE Corporate Office Headquarters". CorporateOfficeHeadquarters.com. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  2. Gruenwedel, Erik (2020-01-23). "Trans World Entertainment Selling f.y.e. Retail Chain". Media Play News. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  3. "HMV owner Sunrise buys US retail chain FYE | Complete Music Update". Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  4. "A mass-market push for interactive CD-ROM". USA Today. 11 November 1993. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  5. Fitzpatrick, Eileen (5 July 1997). "Trans World at 25". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 27. pp. 68, 75, 76.
  6. Moore, Deborah (19 May 1997). "New FYE store eyes Colonie site". Albany Business Review. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  7. Churchill, Chris (12 November 2009). "Trans World to close 125 FYE stores". Albany Times Union. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  8. Christman, Ed (2 March 2017). "Bob Higgins, Pioneering Founder of Trans World and FYE, Dead at 75". Billboard. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  9. Posses, Shayna. "FYE Must Face The Music For Bogus 'Free' Offers, Suit Says". Law360.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  10. Honaker, Brigette (19 November 2018). "FYE Class Action Challenges Loyalty Program and Magazine Subscription Charges". TopClassActions.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  11. DeMasi, Michael (November 2, 2018). "Trans World gets OK from creditor to close more FYE stores". Albany Business Review. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  12. Gruenwedel, Erik (2020-06-16). "FYE Retail Stores Lost $50.7 Million in Fiscal Year". Media Play News. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  13. Slingerland, Calum (23 January 2020). "Sunrise Records to Acquire U.S. Entertainment Chain FYE". Exclaim!. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  14. "$10 million sale of the FYE retail chain approved". Albany Business Journal. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  15. Kennedy, Marlene (2020-02-21). "Down to Business: Sunrise will keep FYE chain spinning". The Daily Gazette. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  16. "Suncoast". The Mall at Fairfield Commons. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
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