Sign of an era

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Sign of an era

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uploaded by Kati Garner

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Photos|Kati Garner

The neon sign on what was the very first Tower Records store was removed early this morning. The sign is being donated to the Sacramento Archives & Museum Collection Center (SAMCC), a Sacramento City and County agency, for preservation by the property owner, Kenneth Schlesinger.

Also donated to SAMCC is the Tower Books sign on the adjacent building, owned by local realtor Alan Cordano.

Tower Records founder Russ Solomon and Rick Hernandez, Tower's first employee watched as the signs came down.

Russ Solomon began his record store empire in the 1950’s, selling records out of his father’s pharmacy on Broadway in Sacramento.

The landmark Tower Building is the namesake of the business, but Solomon opened his first store on Watt Avenue at El Camino in 1960. The chain commenced with the Broadway location in 1966 and a store in San
Francisco in 1967, and the expansion is history.

An unfortunate sign of the times, eighty-nine U.S. Tower Record stores were liquidated in 2006,
although many stores still operate globally.

Tower Records changed the way music was sold in the United States and abroad, and the legacy will
live on through the generous donation of a physical piece of Tower Records’ history.

The neon signs came down with the help and
donation of services by Pacific Neon and SR Moving & Storage. The signs will be moved to the storage facility of the Sacramento Archives & Museum Collection Center at McClellan Park, where they will be preserved
for all Sacramentans.

Solomon now operates the former Tower Records store on Broadway as R5 Records.