Play It Again, Sam

Last night was the final time I'll ever be inside the flagship Sam The Record Man store in downtown Toronto.

The store, a Toronto landmark if there ever was one, is closing its doors today for the final time after 46 years. The neon records that hang atop the storefront are as much a part of Toronto's history as the CN Tower or Eaton Centre, at least to me. I remember buying some of my first cassettes down there, and vividly recall lining up outside the store on many a boxing day to pick up deals. A friend of my father's routinely went on boxing day and purchased, quite literally, a year's worth of music in one fell swoop as part of a yearly routine. A few years back, I remember Sam's being the only place I could find Sesame Street cassettes (instead of CD's) for my son. In fact, he was just telling me yesterday how one of those cassettes broke just recently.

Hell, even today (well, up until today), stopping into Sam's was a regular part of my CD/DVD shopping trip whenever I'm in the Yonge and Dundas area (along with the flagship stores for Sunrise, HMV, and a store called BMV Books that sells used DVD's). It's sad in many ways that the Sam's era (and really, the non-chain music store era) is officially over in Toronto now.

What was the second-to-last day like in there? Well, it was packed with people, which would have been a great sign had only there been regularly-priced merchandise to move. Instead it was the remnants of the (fairly sizeable) store that were being sold at 50 percent off. CD's and cassettes that no one wanted in the first place, a random offering of DVD's that were (even at half off) pricey, and a dusty collection of old VHS tapes that made it look like someone's gigantic garage sale.

I had to buy SOMETHING there during my final trip, so I finally settled on four VHS tapes of cartoons for my son. Hell, the four of them set me back about $9 -- I only wish I could have found a replacement Sesame Street tape for him. Still, I'm glad I was able to give back something to a store that's meant so much to Torontonians for so long.