Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Record Bar
The Record Bar is a former U.S. retail music/entertainment store chain founded in Durham, North Carolina. The company eventually grew from a single location to 180 stores. One of the largest music retailing chains, it was located primarily in the southeastern United States. From 1960 until the late 1980s, the owners were the (Barrie) Bergman family of Durham. In the mid-to-late 1980s, Record Bar began opening large new stores and remodeled Record Bar stores under the Tracks name, to better reflect the changes taking place in retail music merchandising (e.g.- large freestanding "super" stores like Peaches and Tower).
In October 1989, the company was sold to Super Club N.V., a Brussels, Belgium, video distribution company, by Barrie and his partners for $92 million (~$202 million in 2024). At that time, the Record Bar operated 167 stores in the southeastern United States and middle Atlantic states. In the early 1990s, Super Club sold Record Bar, Turtle's Records & Tapes and its other U.S. music and video rental acquisitions to Blockbuster Video. Blockbuster converted its music retail outlets to Blockbuster Music stores, ending the Record Bar chain name. By 2007, no entity using the Record Bar name had a previous affiliation with the Durham-based chain.
After selling Record Bar, Barrie Bergman and John Hansen purchased Bare Escentuals which was bankrupt. This four-store skin care company was consolidated into two stores. Mineral make-up became the focus instead of body lotions. After being featured on QVC and twenty-four stores later, Bare Escentuals was rescued from economic ruin and recapitalized for over $200 million 14 years later.
The following is a chronological history of the company.
The Musicland record store opened in Burlington by Harry Bergman. This became the second Record Bar store in 1963 after it moved to a new location.
On September 24, 1960, Harry and Bertha Bergman purchased the Record Bar, a single 800 sq ft (74 m2) store in Durham. Gross sales for the first year total $125,000.
In 1962, the Bergmans enlarged the Durham store to 3,300 sq ft (310 m2) to accommodate the growing selection of records. On August 11, 1963, Barrie Bergman married Arlene Macklin of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and together they opened Record Bar's second location, on Henderson St. in downtown Chapel Hill. This store was the relocated Burlington Musicland which they renamed. The Beatles released their first American LP, Meet the Beatles in 1964. Barrie commented, "It didn't just change our business - it changed the world."[citation needed]
On August 14, 1966, Lane Bergman married Bill Golden, who joined the Record Bar as director of advertising and operations.[citation needed] In September 1967, Record Bar opened its first shopping center store in North Hills Shopping Center, Raleigh'. Manager Barrie Bergman said, "The first day in that store we did more business than we'd ever done in either of our other stores." Barrie and Bill were named vice presidents of Record Bar in 1968. At the age of 30, Barrie already had 16 years of experience in the record business. The following year, Rich Gonzalez joined the company as assistant manager of the downtown Durham store. The number of stores had grown to five, all in North Carolina.[citation needed]
Hub AI
Record Bar AI simulator
(@Record Bar_simulator)
Record Bar
The Record Bar is a former U.S. retail music/entertainment store chain founded in Durham, North Carolina. The company eventually grew from a single location to 180 stores. One of the largest music retailing chains, it was located primarily in the southeastern United States. From 1960 until the late 1980s, the owners were the (Barrie) Bergman family of Durham. In the mid-to-late 1980s, Record Bar began opening large new stores and remodeled Record Bar stores under the Tracks name, to better reflect the changes taking place in retail music merchandising (e.g.- large freestanding "super" stores like Peaches and Tower).
In October 1989, the company was sold to Super Club N.V., a Brussels, Belgium, video distribution company, by Barrie and his partners for $92 million (~$202 million in 2024). At that time, the Record Bar operated 167 stores in the southeastern United States and middle Atlantic states. In the early 1990s, Super Club sold Record Bar, Turtle's Records & Tapes and its other U.S. music and video rental acquisitions to Blockbuster Video. Blockbuster converted its music retail outlets to Blockbuster Music stores, ending the Record Bar chain name. By 2007, no entity using the Record Bar name had a previous affiliation with the Durham-based chain.
After selling Record Bar, Barrie Bergman and John Hansen purchased Bare Escentuals which was bankrupt. This four-store skin care company was consolidated into two stores. Mineral make-up became the focus instead of body lotions. After being featured on QVC and twenty-four stores later, Bare Escentuals was rescued from economic ruin and recapitalized for over $200 million 14 years later.
The following is a chronological history of the company.
The Musicland record store opened in Burlington by Harry Bergman. This became the second Record Bar store in 1963 after it moved to a new location.
On September 24, 1960, Harry and Bertha Bergman purchased the Record Bar, a single 800 sq ft (74 m2) store in Durham. Gross sales for the first year total $125,000.
In 1962, the Bergmans enlarged the Durham store to 3,300 sq ft (310 m2) to accommodate the growing selection of records. On August 11, 1963, Barrie Bergman married Arlene Macklin of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and together they opened Record Bar's second location, on Henderson St. in downtown Chapel Hill. This store was the relocated Burlington Musicland which they renamed. The Beatles released their first American LP, Meet the Beatles in 1964. Barrie commented, "It didn't just change our business - it changed the world."[citation needed]
On August 14, 1966, Lane Bergman married Bill Golden, who joined the Record Bar as director of advertising and operations.[citation needed] In September 1967, Record Bar opened its first shopping center store in North Hills Shopping Center, Raleigh'. Manager Barrie Bergman said, "The first day in that store we did more business than we'd ever done in either of our other stores." Barrie and Bill were named vice presidents of Record Bar in 1968. At the age of 30, Barrie already had 16 years of experience in the record business. The following year, Rich Gonzalez joined the company as assistant manager of the downtown Durham store. The number of stores had grown to five, all in North Carolina.[citation needed]