Sam the Record Man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sam the Record Man is a Canadian record store chain.
The chain was first launched in 1936 by Sam Sniderman, as a record department in his family's existing radio store in Toronto. In 1961, the store moved out to its own location on Yonge Street, and its location at 347 Yonge Street has become a Toronto landmark. The four story record store located to the site in 1961 and added two spinning record neon signs. The record store also obtained the building at 349 Yonge Street in 1985, formerly Steele's Tavern. This location has been immortalized in the Barenaked Ladies song, Brian Wilson as the "late night record shop".
The chain subsequently expanded to many other Canadian cities as well, owning 30 stores and franchising the name to 11 others.
In 2001, poor management and tough competition forced the chain to declare bankruptcy and most of its stores closed. The Yonge Street store was reopened in 2002. A store on Barrington Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia remained open until February 20, 2007, when it too closed its doors. [1] Sam The Record Man franchise stores still remain in Sarnia and Belleville, Ontario.
