Music like Mars

Mars Music, Inc. was a chain of music stores based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The company was founded in 1996 by guitarist and former Office Depot president Mark Begelman, who created the superstore store chain after experiencing dissatisfaction with his own music store shopping experiences. MARS was initially an acronym for "Music And Recording Superstore." At its peak following an aggressive expansion plan, Mars Music consisted of 49 stores in 20 states and was the second largest company of its kind in the US, but the company went out of business in late 2002 after over-expansion, struggles to raise additional capital, and a failed reorganization attempt.

Mark Begelman began Mars Music with the purchase of the five-store Ace Music store chain in south Florida. He had gone into one of the Ace Music locations to try a guitar amplifier, but a salesperson told him he couldn't turn up the volume, and that if he purchased it and didn't like it, he wouldn't be able to get a refund. Frustrated with his shopping experience and music stores' limited product selection, lack of clear pricing, and store personnel who wouldn't allow customers to try the merchandise, he used $10 million of his own funds to start Mars Music. The company slogan was "We love it when you touch the stuff" and the chain offered a great 45-day return policy.