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 Music & Movies, DiscJockey, Saturday Matinee, The Wall, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, Musicland, Media Play, and HMV stores.

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.

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.

[13][14][15] 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.