FYE

History

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

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 and 52 more in 2012.

Trans World opened new FYE concept stores in multiple locations (such as the Rockaway Townsquare in Rockaway, New Jersey) in 2016. The new FYE featured 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.

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 canceled the services. Another allegation was that customer information was shared with marketing company Synapse without customer consent.

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.

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

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:

• Coconuts Music & Movies: Evansville, Indiana (closed in 2025)
• Sam Goody: Medford, Oregon
• Suncoast Motion Picture Company: Jacksonville, North Carolina.
  • A FYE and Suncoast combo store remains in Beavercreek, Ohio in The Mall at Fairfield Commons.

References

References

1. "FYE Corporate Office Headquarters".
2. (October 29, 2025). "Store Locator". fye.com.
3. Gruenwedel, Erik. (January 23, 2020). "Trans World Entertainment Selling f.y.e. Retail Chain".
4. "HMV owner Sunrise buys US retail chain FYE {{!}} Complete Music Update".
5. Landis, David. (November 11, 1993). "A mass-market push for interactive CD-ROM". [[USA Today]].
6. Fitzpatrick, Eileen. (July 5, 1997). "Trans World at 25".
7. Moore, Deborah. (May 19, 1997). "New FYE store eyes Colonie site". [[American City Business Journals.
8. Churchill, Chris. (November 12, 2009). "Trans World to close 125 FYE stores". [[Times Union (Albany).
9. Christman, Ed. (March 2, 2017). "Bob Higgins, Pioneering Founder of Trans World and FYE, Dead at 75".
10. Posses, Shayna. "FYE Must Face The Music For Bogus 'Free' Offers, Suit Says".
11. Honaker, Brigette. (November 19, 2018). "FYE Class Action Challenges Loyalty Program and Magazine Subscription Charges".
12. DeMasi, Michael. (November 2, 2018). "Trans World gets OK from creditor to close more FYE stores". Albany Business Review.
13. Gruenwedel, Erik. (June 16, 2020). "FYE Retail Stores Lost $50.7 Million in Fiscal Year".
14. Slingerland, Calum. (January 23, 2020). "Sunrise Records to Acquire U.S. Entertainment Chain FYE".
15. (February 18, 2020). "$10 million sale of the FYE retail chain approved". Albany Business Journal.
16. Kennedy, Marlene. (February 21, 2020). "Down to Business: Sunrise will keep FYE chain spinning".
17. Lucca, Josh. (December 2, 2024). "Say goodbye to Coconuts: Evansville music retailer closing in 2025".
18. "Suncoast".