johnrobe

So sad.

I knew it was coming for a while, years actually, but today they announced that Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street is closing on June 30th.

The one thing that makes me sort of mad about it is that the Star (and most other news releases about it) is implying that they are closing due to the internet.

I guess to be fair, they're saying due to sales on the internet, and not piracy — but still, this rankles me. Is it maybe more because there are TWO giant record super stores within a hundred feet of Sam's? I'm sure the internet was a factor, but I'm sure the other stores were as well.

I don't buy a ton of music these days, but I always went to Sam's when I did out of loyalty. When I first moved to Toronto, I went to Sam's at least once a week, and bought CDs from their Indie wall. Sometimes, I would have never have heard of the group, but I just had a hunch, and the world of music opened to me was special and amazing. That's how I learned of The Waltons, The Rheostatics, Brass Bikini and the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band.

To be honest, the way I discover music now is better and cheaper, but I miss that old way, and I will miss Sam's even more.