Sam Goody, once the heart and soul of music retail, has announced that it will close the last two physical stores—the first in the Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and the other in Rogue Valley Mall in Medford, Oregon.
In its heyday, Sam Goody operated over 800 stores nationwide, pulling in millions of dollars and becoming a hotspot for music lovers. As times and technology have changed, their closure marks the end of an era for stores once filled with vinyl records and CDs.
What people have to say about the Sam Goody Store closing
For those connected to Sam Goody, this news feels bittersweet. Rick Polanski, who has managed the Ohio Valley Mall store for years, shared how the place had changed over time. He spoke of its glory days when it was a bustling, multimillion-dollar business, only to see it slowly fade as the world moved on. The closure feels inevitable to him but still stings after investing so much of his life in it.
Joe Bell, representing the Ohio Valley Mall, was caught off guard by the closure and admitted to not having many details yet. Meanwhile, the store manager at Medford’s Valley Mall outlet, Gavin Culver, had a contrary take and denied the shutdown, saying they were mere rumors and they were not going anywhere.
Why did the Sam Goody store fail?
The rise of digital music was the beginning of the end for music retail. With people choosing streaming platforms and digital downloads over CDs and vinyl, the demand for physical music forms declined drastically, and Sam Goody could not keep up with the times.
The company also struggled with mismanagement and ownership changes over the years. They also underwent a few mergers and acquisitions with the likes of Musicland and Licorice Pizza; however, these efforts were not effective. The St. Clairsville store will officially shut down in January, while the Medford branch has yet to disclose its closure timeline.