Sam the Record Man traces its roots to 1937, when Sam Sniderman began selling records at his family’s College Street radio store. The business grew into Sniderman’s Music Hall, moved to Yonge Street in 1959, and opened its famous 347 Yonge Street flagship in 1961.
By 1982, it was Canada’s largest music retailer, advertising approximately 140 locations nationwide, while its Toronto flagship occupied the corner of Yonge and Gould Streets.
The chain filed for bankruptcy in 2001, and its flagship closed permanently on June 30, 2007. A campaign to save its iconic spinning record signs attracted more than 18,000 supporters.
So, what stands there today? Toronto Metropolitan University, then known as Ryerson, purchased the property in 2008. Its award-winning Student Learning Centre, completed in 2015, now occupies the site where generations once gathered to discover new music.
The famous signs survived, spending nearly a decade in storage before being restored and officially relit on January 10, 2018, at 277 Victoria Street, a short walk from their original home. Ryerson funded their restoration and installation, while Councillor Josh Matlow reflected on how the signs once made Torontonians feel they were somewhere special.
Today, the iconic spinning record signs remain part of Toronto’s downtown landscape, preserving a piece of the city’s musical past. The store may be gone, but some landmarks never stop spinning in the city’s memory.
