From the second-floor balcony shelves, a fortress of electronica and musical miscellany, Sam the Record Man looks like a sad place. Although business has dropped in recent years, Sam’s, and the giant neon spinning disks on its sign, is a much-beloved Toronto landmark. Inside, however, the store that once claimed to be able to get any album in the world now seems to have already shut down, weeks before the June 30 final closure.
One boomer couple browsing the store shared memories of Sam’s in better times: “We used to come down to pick up our chum charts and then go the wall near the cash and get some 45’s.”
“It sucks. Ultimately it’s like McDonald’s has won,” said a young worker at Sam’s. “McDonald’s being the HMVs and downloading sites,” he clarified.
Public support has mostly been limited to a surge of Facebook groups dedicated to saving Sam’s, or at least the store’s iconic sign. Ironic, considering that the “Facebook generation” are among the most prolific of music downloaders.
The young staffer was cynical about the Facebook groups. “Maybe they are joining as an afterthought. They might be doing it for the hell of it. I mean how many of them actually came here on a regular basis?” he said.
However, others seem to understand and accept the new post-Sam’s era.
“It was a fun place to find offbeat, unusual stuff-on the second floor. But time is moving beyond it now. It’s sad to see it go, but I understand why,” sighed a grey-haired gentleman picking through the mostly-deserted aisles.
Launched in 1937 by Sam Sniderman, the record chain was once Canada’s biggest music seller with 130 stores. In 1961 Sam’s moved to its famous four-storey home on 347 Yonge Street. When that flagship store shuts down on June 30, only two Sam’s branches will remain open, in Sarnia and Belleville.
