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Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street, near Dundas Street, in downtown Toronto, was once a magnet for music lovers, spanning decades. It sits idle in 2007. The iconic sign is getting a new home.

Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street, near Dundas Street in downtown Toronto in 2007, after the store closed. The iconic sign is getting a new home.

TIBOR KOLLEY/The Globe and Mail

The inimitable music store was a magnet for music lovers. Its sign: two neon-lit records lighting up Yonge Street until the store went out of business and the sign went into storage. Now Sam's sign is – finally – getting restored.

The giant neon records on Toronto's famed Sam the Record Man sign will soon "spin" again, as the landmark's keeper, Ryerson University, began searching for a company to restore it.

After Sam Sniderman's music empire declared bankruptcy and its flagship Yonge Street shop was demolished to make way for a new Ryerson property, many feared the city would never again see the 15-by-11 metre sign's neon glow. But this week, Ryerson put out a call for companies to bid on installing the sign atop a city-owned building overlooking Yonge-Dundas Square. This is the saga of Sam's sign.

1961

Sam Sniderman opens Sam the Record Man's flagship music shop at 347 Yonge St. in downtown Toronto. As a teenager, Mr. Sniderman began selling records out of his family's business, Sniderman Radio Sales and Service, in 1937. His new downtown store is easily recognizable with its first neon sign that includes a working thermometer and barometer/

It isn't just the store's neon sign or overstocked record displays that make it stand out. Mr. Sniderman also employs some business practices unusual for the time, like keeping the store open until midnight and on Sundays. Annual sales approach $2-million by 1967, which is about $14-million today.

Sam Sniderman in the Sam the Record Man store on Yonge Street in Toronto in February 1967.

Sam Sniderman in the Sam the Record Man store on Yonge Street in Toronto in February 1967.

The Globe and Mail

1969

Sam's first neon record sign appears at the Yonge Street location, replacing the old thermometer and barometer. The sign's 120 white neon tubes are animated to give the illusion that the record is spinning. In the middle of the record, "That's Entertainment" is spelled out in neon red tubes.

1980s - 1990s

Sam the Record Man becomes the music industry's retail mecca, with franchise stores popping up across the country. At the same time, the flagship store on Yonge Street gets its second neon record sign, identical to the first, just north at 349 Yonge St. The signs use a total of 1,572 feet of neon tubing, according to a Sam the Record Man online archive created by Ryerson University. If this tubing were to be placed end-to-end, it would run from the store's Yonge and Gould St. intersection to just north of College Street.

View of Yonge Street in downtown Toronto in 1992 showing A&A Records and Sam the Record Man stores.

View of Yonge Street in downtown Toronto in 1992 showing A&A Records and Sam the Record Man stores.

PETER TYM/FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL

2007

Sam's giant records stop spinning as the store closes its doors for good. The store closed for the first time in October, 2001, when the business filed for bankruptcy protection amid a record industry crisis, owing to the rising popularity of downloaded music and CD superstores like HMV. Mr. Sniderman's sons, Robert and Jason Sniderman, were able to save the store in 2002, but as the industry wound down, so did their hopes of keeping their family business open. The neon records ceased to spin that summer – seemingly forever.

The entrance to the Sam the Record Man store on Yonge Street, closed for business in 2007.

The entrance to the Sam the Record Man store on Yonge Street, closed for business in 2007.

TIBOR KOLLEY/The Globe and Mail

2008

Sam the Record Man's former neighbour, Ryerson University, buys the Yonge Street property with plans to demolish the three-storey building and erect a student learning centre. The school is granted permission to build on the property – a heritage site – on the condition that it take responsibility for Sam's iconic signs. The signs are taken apart and put into storage with the promise they'd glow again one day on the side of the new Ryerson building or on the school's nearby library.

Artist's rendering of exterior of Ryerson University Student Learning Centre which will be built on the space once occupied by Sam the Record Man store.

Artist’s rendering of exterior of Ryerson University Student Learning Centre which will be built on the space once occupied by Sam the Record Man store.

ZEIDLER SNOHETTA/Labtop USA Corp.

2011

The fate of Sam's sign hangs in the balance as Ryerson releases the construction plan for its new student learning centre and the records are not part of it. University officials say they worry the sign's outdated technology will pose a safety risk, as any damage done to the sign could result in mercury spilling onto the sidewalk below. Installing the sign on the side of the student centre would also clash with the new building's modern architecture, they say, and its neon glow could distract the studying students inside.

Then-Ryerson University President Sheldon Levy poses for a photo in 2009 on Yonge Street near what will be the site of the new Student Learning Centre in Toronto. It was decided that part of the new building would sit on what used to be the Sam the Record Man site. It cost $27-million to buy the land alone (including the iconic Sam the Record Man building).

Then-Ryerson University President Sheldon Levy poses for a photo in 2009 on Yonge Street near what will be the site of the new Student Learning Centre in Toronto. It was decided that part of the new building would sit on what used to be the Sam the Record Man site. It cost $27-million to buy the land alone (including the iconic Sam the Record Man building).

DEBORAH BAIC/The Globe and Mail

2012

Mr. Sniderman dies in his sleep on Sept. 23, 2012 at age 92. He is remembered not just for creating the music empire that is Sam the Record Man, but also for helping Canadian stars including Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray, Joni Mitchell and the band the Guess Who.

"He went out on a limb and stuck up for us in those early days when we were trying our best to get something to happen," Anne Murray told The Globe and Mail in 2012, after Mr. Sniderman died. "He proved to be quite good for us, and we proved to be quite good for him in the end. But it started with him."

OBITUARY

Sam ‘The Record Man’ Sniderman dies

The flagship store in downtown Toronto was a music-retail mecca. Brad Wheeler looks back at the life of an entrepreneur who created a music empire.

Read the article

2014

Toronto's city council votes on July 20, 2014 to have Sam's sign reassembled on the roof of the Toronto Public Health building, a city-owned tower at 277 Victoria St., overlooking Yonge-Dundas Square. This would place the sign just a block away from its old home on Yonge Street. Ryerson, still responsible for preserving the sign, is told that it will foot the bill.

An artist’s rending of the Sam the Record Man sign’s new home at Yonge and Dundas Square.

An artist’s rending of the Sam the Record Man sign’s new home at Yonge and Dundas Square.

City of Toronto

2016

Ryerson begins the process of refurbishing the Sam the Record Man sign by issuing a request on Feb. 9, 2016 for companies to install it. There is no word as of yet of how long the restoration process will take.