Peaches Records and Tapes

Peaches Records & Tapes, Inc.

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail (music)
Founded	1975
Founder	Tom Heiman
Defunct	1981
Fate	Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Headquarters	Los Angeles , United States
Area served	Nationwide (United States)
Key people	Tom Heiman (founder and later president of parent company Nehi Record Distributing Corporation)
Products	Records, music merchandise
Owner	Nehi Record Distributing Corporation
Number of employees	2000+ (circa 1981)
Parent	Nehi Record Distributing Corporation

Peaches Records & Tapes, Inc. was a nationwide chain of record superstores headquartered in Los Angeles, with some outlets spanning up to 15,000 square feet. This retail chain operated as a subsidiary under the Nehi Record Distributing Corporation. Founded in 1963 by Tom Heiman (born Thomas Michael Heiman in 1941), who later became Nehi's president, Peaches expanded significantly. At its height, the company managed 50 stores across 22 cities and employed more than 2,000 people. However, in June 1981, facing $20 million in debt (equivalent to approximately $50 million today), Peaches filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The financial obligations were owed to Citibank and six different record distributors, affecting its 35 stores nationwide.

History

Renowned for its extensive inventory, Peaches operated many outlets housed in spaces comparable in size to standard grocery stores. The chain gained recognition not only for its large selection but also for hosting autograph signings and featuring oversized album cover murals on building exteriors. Records were often sold from wooden crates adorned with the company’s distinctive fruit-crate-inspired logo. Each store reportedly held inventory valued at around $500,000.

The inaugural Peaches store opened on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles in 1975, followed by a second location in Atlanta within the same year. The chain continued expanding, with its 39th store launching in Chicago on December 3, 1980.

Following the example set by Grauman's Chinese Theatre, several Peaches locations invited performing artists to leave handprints embedded in cement outside the stores. Notable musicians such as The Allman Brothers, ZZ Top, Dolly Parton, The Beach Boys, Willie Nelson, and The Kinks participated. Unfortunately, these handprints were destroyed when the associated store closed after the company’s bankruptcy in 1981. However, some handprints remain intact outside the former Tulsa, Oklahoma store from artists including Pat Metheny, 38 Special, Hank Williams Jr., and Johnny Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Of the original eight New Orleans-area stores that existed before bankruptcy, only one remains operational. This surviving location relocated to a former Woolworth’s building and continues to operate its historic lunch counter there.