The Record Bar is a former U.S. retail music/entertainment store chain founded in Durham, North Carolina.
One of the largest music retailing chains, it was located primarily in the southeastern United States.
After selling Record Bar, Barrie Bergman and John Hansen purchased Bare Escentuals which was bankrupt.
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.
[3] On September 24, 1960, Harry and Bertha Bergman purchased the Record Bar, a single 800 sq ft (74 m2) store in Durham.
In 1962, the Bergmans enlarged the Durham store to 3,300 sq ft (310 m2) to accommodate the growing selection of records.
"[citation needed] On August 14, 1966, Lane Bergman married Bill Golden, who joined the Record Bar as director of advertising and operations.
The following year, Rich Gonzalez joined the company as assistant manager of the downtown Durham store.
On September 24, exactly 10 years after Mr. and Mrs. Bergman bought the original store, Record Bar #10 (Northgate Mall, Durham) opened.
Frank Zappa, Harry Chapin, George Jones and Tammy Wynette attended.
Guests included Boz Scaggs, Andy Williams, Martin Mull and Kris Kristofferson.
Early 1980s Record Bar opened its 100th store in Haywood Mall in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1980.
The 20th Anniversary Convention theme was "Record Bar Goes Platinum", highlighted by the presentation of the first Bertha K. Bergman Award, given to Jackie Brown.
Dolphin Records wais launched, with Brice Street's Rise Up In The Night the first release.
In 1984, the first shipments left midAMERICA Distributors, Inc., Record Bar's new video distribution company.
Entertainment included Stanley Jordan and John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band.
The convention in September featured a Tony Robbins seminar with a firewalk in hotel parking lot which a great deal of publicity.
The convention was subsequently mentioned in the book Firewalking and Religious Healing: The Anastenaria of Greece and the American Firewalking Movement by Loring M. Danforth, published by Princeton University Press, on page 255:One of Robbins' most publicized seminars was held at Hilton Head, South Carolina, in September 1985 as part of the annual convention of Record Bar, Inc., the second largest retailer of records and tapes in the United States.
The seminar, for which Robbins received seventy-five thousand dollars, was part of the company's "human systems" program for developing its workers' potential to the fullest.
[7] In 1986, the third Tracks Music and Video store managed by Michael Vanderslice opened in Hampton, Virginia.
Operations were consolidated in Atlanta, Georgia, and all North Carolina office functions were eliminated.
[citation needed] Super Club N.V. sold Record Bar and its other music retailing acquisitions to Blockbuster Video.