By Jon Blistein
Sam Goody, one of the record store giants from the golden age of physical media, may finally shutter its last remaining brick-and-mortar stores.
The chain was one of the most prominent music, video, and entertainment retailers for much of the 20th century, becoming a staple in malls and shopping centers across North America. But like many large purveyors of physical media, its fortunes turned with the rise of the internet, digital downloads, and online shopping.
Since 2022, the chain’s last two stores were located in the Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and the Rogue Valley Mall in Medford, Oregon. According to reports, both are now set to close early next year.
Per The Times Leader (a local Ohio newspaper), the manager of the Sam Goody at the Ohio Valley Mall — which opened in 1980 — learned about the store closing after Thanksgiving. An exact closing date wasn’t announced, but it’s expected to shutter in February.
“It’s changed over the years, and it [stinks],” said manager Rick Polanski. “I put two-thirds of my life into this place. We were a $2 million store at one point, but times have changed, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Joe Bell, corporate communications director for Cafaro Co., which owns the Ohio Valley Mall, was surprised by the news. “They are closing the last two Sam Goody locations in the United States,” he said. “We don’t know much at this point, other than the fact that they will be ending their term as a tenant at the Ohio Valley Mall.”
The fate of the Sam Goody store in Medford is a bit open ended. While Bell’s statements suggests he heard both stores would close, the manager at the Medford store denied the reports to Fast Company.
“It’s not true,” said Gavin Culver. “We’re going to do the last Blockbuster kind of thing because we’re cool like that out here. We’re not going anywhere.” (The last Blockbuster is in Bend, Oregon.)
The parent company for the Rogue Valley Mall did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s request for comment. Sam Goody’s parent company, FYE, also did not immediately return a request for comment.
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Sam Goody’s eponymous founder, Sam “Goody” Gutowitz, began his retail career running a toy and novelty store in New York City, but during the late Thirties he struck up a lucrative side gig selling rare 78 rpm records (per the roots music journal, No Depression). As vinyl replaced shellac in the Forties and Fifties, he threw himself fully into the record business: He opened a flagship store on 49th Street (where he hired sales people who could actually discuss and recommend music), expanded his reach with mail-order services, and notably offered records at discounted prices.
Goody grew the business into a national chain and eventually sold it to the American Can Company in 1978. Over the next few decades, Sam Goody continued to grow, eventually merging with the prominent entertainment retail company, Musicland. When Gutowitz died in 1991, there were 320 Sam Goody Stores across the country, most of which had been opened after he sold the business.
This story was updated 12/20/24 at 8:09 a.m. with a quote from the manager of the Medford, Oregon Sam Goody.
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