Arts & Culture

Sam the Record Man. Photo by Eric.

Student Learning Centre. Photo by Eric.

Can you believe it's already been 10 years since the closure of Sam the Record Man's flagship store on Yonge Street?  The iconic building with its rotating neon record platters was eventually replaced by Ryerson University's Student Learning Centre. 

Launched by Sam Sniderman in 1937, Sam the Record Man was touted to be Canada's largest record store, with 140 locations across Canada by 1982.

Its flagship store was located just north of Yonge-Dundas Square and few could miss the very large, bright, neon dual-spinning records across its facade. 

Many Torontonians certainly miss this once great landmark, as well as its vast selection of music. It's too bad Sam the Record Man went away before the resurgence of interest in vinyl records and collecting:

Some good news? The iconic Sam the Record Man sign is slated to be installed at Yonge-Dundas Square in the fall of this year. 

The responsibility of care and the restoration of the sign was given to Ryerson University when they acquired the land occupied by the Sam the Record Man store. The restoration of the signs should be completed in three months and the process began in earnest in June of this year. Once complete, Ryerson University plans to host an official lighting ceremony.

Interested in more unique stories like this? Read more stories of Toronto's history by visiting  150 sTOries, featuring 150 fascinating stories of Canada, with a decidedly Toronto perspective.