response 56 of 106:

Nov 2 00:39 UTC 2001

The venerable Canadian firm Sam the Record Man has filed for 
bankruptcy.  There are two good stories at http://www.globeandmail.com
but unfortunately Globe and Mail URLs are about three lines long, 
so you'll have to search on "sam's" to find the news story 
from October 31 and a memorial from November 1.
 
Sam's had outlets all across Canada, but the important store 
was the one on Yonge Street in Toronto.
Back when I was a college student, my friends and I experienced
something we called "the East Lansing/Toronto Spacewarp."  
We went to Toronto, lots of times.  And in those days, the 
four-story Sam's, with the landmark animated neon LP 
design on the front, was probably the best 
record store in Canada, and one of the best in the world.  
Long before "world music" became a viable genre, Sam's had a 
killer section of international music; I got some fun Eastern 
European albums from there.  And lots of Canadian and British Isles
folk, and jazz, and classical...  sometimes it seemed like if it 
was released anywhere in the world, then there was a good chance 
that Sam's had it.  I don't think I ever saw a selection of 
imported records that was better than Sam's.

I didn't get to Toronto much in the CD era.  Senna would tell me 
that the store was declining due to commercial pressure from 
the HMV down the street.  When I made my last trip to Sam's
about three or four years ago, it was clear that the store wasn't
what it had been 15 years ago, but I still came away with a good 
armload of Canadian, British and European folk and roots music, 
including one treasure I never expected to find -- a long out-of-print
disc on Billy Bragg's old Utility label by Jungr & Parker.
(And the Sam's clerk marked it down by 40% -- "This has been here 
far too long," she said, when I hesitated at the somewhat high price.)

I hit HMV on that same Toronto trip; the HMV store was newer and shinier,
and it wasn't bad, but it still didn't have the breadth of stock 
that Sam's had, even in Sam's long decline.

Thanks to Sam Sniderman, age 81, who ran such an important store
for its entire 63-year life.