Albany businessman Robert J. Higgins, who founded the Record Town chain of music stores in 1972 and built it into a billion dollar retail empire that still survives today as the f.y.e. chain, has died.

Higgins was CEO of the holding company for his store, Trans World Entertainment, for 40 years before stepping down in 2014, although he remained on as chairman until his death. He was 75.

On Thursday, friends of Higgins were grieving from his passing, including James Barba, CEO of Albany Medical Center.

"He was my best friend," Barba said.

Barba said that Higgins largely stayed out of the public eye but was a "giant" in both the music industry and in the charitable sector.

Barba says the two were neighbors and then grew to be close friends from their work together at Albany Med.

Higgins was chairman of the hospital board in the early 1990s when Albany Med was going through a financial crisis. Barba says that Higgins put a plan together that was followed through on over 12 years that saved the hospital from ruin.

Higgins knew the bankers and other business contacts, and he had the business acumen to make it happen.

"He kept it all together and worked through a plan that was key to getting the medical center back on track," Barba said.

Barba succeeded Higgins as chairman of the Albany Med board in 1994 before becoming CEO.

Barba said Higgins' philanthropy often went unreported, but it had a huge impact on the Capital Region and elsewhere.

"This guy was a giant," Barba said. "But in quiet ways... he never wanted any attention. His contributions were just extensive. He just kept giving and giving and giving."

Higgins was also a good friend when you needed one, always helping in times of need.

"Bob always promised me he would be there for me, and no matter where he was in the world, he kept his word," Barba said.

Higgins controlled 48 percent of Trans World Entertainment's stock. The company, which has its headquarters and warehouse operations at 38 Corporate Circle in Albany, went public in 1986.

His successor at Trans World, retail executive Michael Feurer, was hired in October 2014.

Higgins began in the wholesale music business, but really built the business on retail locations, eventually buying up some of the largest music store chains in the country, including Strawberries and Camelot Music in the 1990s.

At the apex of Trans World's fortunes in 2001, it had $1.4 billion in sales, with roughly 1,000 stores across the country.

Trans World, like other retail music services, has struggled with the advent of streaming music services and the iPhone, which have dramatically reshaped the music industry and made shopping at the mall for music less popular.

Today, there are fewer than 300 f.y.e. stores, and sales have dropped similarly, to just above $300 million annually.

In fact, Trans World's f.y.e. stores carry much less music, adding t-shirts, candy and pop culture items over the past five years, in response to the changes.