Parent company Musicland Group Inc. will close all 61 of its Media Play stores nationwide, including Utah stores in Salt Lake City, Taylorsville, Midvale, Riverdale and Orem.

Media Play, which debuted in 1992, has 2,000 part- and full-time employees in 18 states, including 150 in Utah, company spokeswoman Laurie Bauer said.

The first Media Play stores in Utah - in Taylorsville and Orem - attracted a lot of attention when they opened in November 1993. Although the state already had Wal-Marts and Kmarts, many of specialty big-box retailers such as Best Buy, Circuit City and Barnes & Noble had yet to come here.

"It was a big deal back then because there was nothing in Utah like it," said Bob Moore of commercial brokerage Commerce CRG in Salt Lake City.

The first two Utah stores were successful, leading to new Media Play locations in Midvale and Riverdale in 1995 and Salt Lake City in October 1998.

In recent years, however, Media Play - with its distinct mix of merchandise that includes music, movies books and even some toys - has struggled.

"The reason they are having such a hard time now is that there is so many discounters - Kmart, Target, Shopko, Wal-Mart - selling a lot of the stuff Media Play does for less," Moore said. "To some extent, the Internet hurt them, too."

As part of its liquidation, Media Play has begun a 10 percent- to 40 percent-off liquidation sale that probably will run through mid- to late January, said Bauer.

The Media Play stores in Utah that are liquidating are at 130 E. 1300 South, Orem; 5546 S. Redwood Road, Taylorsville; 7170 S. 1000 East, Midvale; 1100 W. Riverdale Drive, Riverdale; and 1198 E. Brickyard Road, Salt Lake City.

All sales made at the stores will be final and no checks are accepted, Bauer said.

Media Play gift cards still will be accepted online at http://www.mediaplay.com, which will remain operable indefinitely, Bauer said. The cards also may be used at any of Musicland Group's Sam Goody stores, which sell similar merchandise to Media Play in malls, or Suncoast Motion Picture Company stores, which sell movies and related merchandise.

Musicland has two Sam Goody stores in Utah, at Layton Hills Mall in Layton and Red Cliffs Mall in St. George, and one Suncoast store, in University Mall in Orem, she said.

While it is closing out Media Play, Musicland Group is investing in a major redesign to boost sales at its network of Sam Goody stores.

Sun Capital Partners Inc., a private investment firm based in Florida, purchased Musicland from Best Buy Inc. in 2003 - two years after Best Buy paid nearly $700 million for the group. Sun Capital Partners paid no cash but assumed all of Musicland's liabilities.

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The Associated Press contributed to this article.