{"id":120814,"date":"2024-02-11T20:46:16","date_gmt":"2024-02-11T20:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/11\/remembering-sam-the-record-man-as-the-last-store-closes-national\/"},"modified":"2024-02-11T20:46:17","modified_gmt":"2024-02-11T20:46:17","slug":"remembering-sam-the-record-man-because-the-final-retailer-closes-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/11\/remembering-sam-the-record-man-because-the-final-retailer-closes-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Sam the Record Man because the final retailer closes – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Like loads of Canadians, I obtained loads of music music training by wandering round a Sam the Record Man<\/a> retailer.<\/p>\n

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In my case, I\u2019d be dropped off on the Garden City Shopping Centre in Winnipeg whereas my mother took my sister to music classes. I spent untold hours flicking via the racks, watching what different individuals purchased, analyzing the Top 40 singles show, and taking note of what was taking part in on the shop stereo. I may solely afford to purchase a lot on the meagre quantity I earned via part-time jobs, however I virtually at all times went residence with one thing.<\/p>\n

There was additionally this magical looseleaf ebook on a metallic stand that purportedly listed the artist, title, and catalogue variety of each report in existence. Submit your request to a clerk and in a mere three to 6 weeks, that report could be delivered to the shop.<\/p>\n

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There have been possibly half a dozen of Sam\u2019s shops in Winnipeg. I patronized all of them, particularly those at Polo Park (the place I purchased my first-ever 45, Joy<\/em> by Apollo 100) and Unicity, a mall that was demolished way back.<\/p>\n

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When I moved to Toronto, one of many first locations I visited was the Sam\u2019s on Yonge Street with its well-known neon spinning data<\/a>. Wandering round there via all of the totally different flooring was an expertise. Even after the HMV superstore moved in down the road, Sam\u2019s usually had data in inventory nobody else did. When I used to be DJing membership nights in locations like Hamilton, I usually dropped into that downtown retailer to see if I may decide up any new CDs to play that evening. And don\u2019t get me began on the notorious Boxing Day gross sales.<\/p>\n

Sam the Record Man started as part of Sniderman\u2019s Radio Sales and Service at 714 College St. in Toronto, a retailer that opened in 1920. Sam and Sidney Sniderman<\/a> satisfied the household to supply up a nook of the shop for data underneath the identify \u201cSniderman\u2019s Music Hall.\u201d In 1959, enterprise was so good that they took over the basement of Yolle Furniture on Yonge Street. Two years after that, the legendary fundamental retailer opened at 347 Yonge. It sat subsequent to the Steeles Tavern, which separated Sam\u2019s from its largest competitor, A&A Records.<\/p>\n

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The retailer received larger and larger over time. A 3rd ground. The Third Floor Bargain Basement. There was a video division and a spot to purchase live performance tickets. When CIBC closed a department subsequent door, that grew to become Sam\u2019s annex, housing classical data. Anyone keep in mind Sam the Tape Man? It had its personal area a couple of doorways north and specialised in cassettes, 8-tracks, and reel-to-reel releases. And if you happen to weren\u2019t curious about tapes, there was Sam the Chinese Food Man upstairs. In the Nineties, Sam\u2019s jumped into computer systems with Sam the Interactive Man. All shops received into promoting DVDs, pre-recorded DAT tapes, and Mini-Discs. And there was Network<\/em>, a free music journal.<\/p>\n

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Problems started within the early 2000s. Maybe the chain expanded too quick. Maybe Sam\u2019s was the canary within the coal mine that predicted the disastrous fall in bodily music gross sales that adopted the explosion of the supply of music on-line. Maybe Sam\u2019s tried to be too many issues to too many individuals. Or possibly it was the extraordinary competitors from different chains. Yonge Street, for instance, as soon as featured the best density of main report shops anyplace on this planet between Queen and Gerrard.<\/p>\n

Sam\u2019s filed for chapter in 2001. The roughly 130 to 140 shops started closing, whittling all the way down to a few dozen franchise shops, most of which weren’t coated by the chapter. The final corporately owned retailer outdoors of Toronto \u2014 a Halifax location \u2014 shut its doorways ceaselessly on Feb. 20, 2007.<\/p>\n