Wherehouse Entertainment

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Wherehouse Entertainment, Inc.

Formerly	Integrity Entertainment Corp.
Company type	Public
Traded as	Template:AMEX was
Industry	Retail
Founded	1970 (1970)
Defunct	2003 (2003)
Fate	Acquired by Trans World and rebranded as FYE
Headquarters	United States
Products	DVDs, compact discs, videos, records, video games, books, collectibles, accessories

Wherehouse Entertainment, Inc., initially known as Integrity Entertainment Corp., and also referred to as Wherehouse Music or The Wherehouse, operated as a music retail franchise within the United States.

History

Wherehouse Entertainment Inc., which had changed its name from Integrity Entertainment Corp., launched a public stock offering in 1983 consisting of 750,000 shares under the ticker WEI. At that time, the chain operated 126 locations mainly throughout California. The following year, the retailer expanded its offerings by introducing movie rentals—referred to as "video software"—in 77 of its stores with plans to extend this service across additional locations. Notably in late 1984, a copy of Money Hunt: The Mystery of the Missing Link was purchased at the Sunset & Western Wherehouse store in Los Angeles by Newt Deiter, who subsequently won the $100,000 prize associated with the game.

In August of 1998, Wherehouse acquired Blockbuster Music from Viacom for $115 million. The company later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002. Subsequently in 2003, Trans World Entertainment purchased the remaining portfolio of 148 Wherehouse outlets for $41 million in cash and assumed liabilities while discontinuing operations at 35 underperforming stores. The timeline regarding when Trans World either shuttered or rebranded these stores under its FYE banner remains unspecified.

References

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