National Record Mart

See also NRM, NRM Music, NRM Records & National Records (22). Record company & label. National Record Mart, known as "NRM" for short, was an American music store chain. The first music store chain in the United States, it was founded in 1937 in Pittsburgh, PA, and operated more than 130 locations at its peak. Other stores under its ownership included Oasis, Music X, Waves Music, and Vibes. The chain filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and closed the last of its stores in 2002. It was founded in 1937 by Hyman Shapiro and his sons, Sam and Howard, as Jitterbug Records in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The store specialized in used 78 RPM records from jukeboxes. After opening two more stores, the chain became known as "National Record Mart" by 1941. Hyman's third son, Jason, later became involved in the family business as well. National Record Mart operated 20 Pittsburgh-area stores in the 1960s, at which point the chain began locating in regional shopping malls, including South Hills Village and Northway Mall (now The Shoppes at Northway). The first stores outside Pennsylvania opened in the 1970s, including Roanoke, Virginia, Buffalo, New York, and Chicago, Illinois. Hyman retired in the mid-1970s, with his three sons maintaining the business. In 1978, National Record Mart opened a new chain, Oasis Records & Tapes.