ASMA KHALID, HOST:
Before the internet or MTV or streaming services, there was Sam Goody. It's a record store you could find in a lot of malls across America. You could also buy turn tables, speakers and even sheet music there. Sam Goody stores were once ubiquitous, but soon, there will only be a single location. The Sam Goody store in Ohio announced it will close in early 2025, leaving just one last one open in Oregon. Here to talk about the legacy of the retail chain is David Browne, a senior writer at Rolling Stone. Good morning.
DAVID BROWNE: Good morning. How are you?
KHALID: I'm good. I'm good. So can you describe what Sam Goody was like at its peak? What were the sights, the sounds? What was it like to go into the store?
BROWNE: Yeah, it really was such an unusual place to go. I mean, I grew up in New Jersey, and there were many of them there, and most of them were in malls. And this was a period of time when trying to find music was a challenge. If you were a music lover who wanted to buy records, there'd be little mom-and-pop stores, but you could go to a mall, and there would be this entire store filled with records. And also, as you say, stereo equipment, sheet music, things like that. And it was in one hand, kind of impersonal 'cause it was in a mall and it was a chain but it was also an incredibly powerful personal experience - rows and rows of records that you couldn't always find in other stores.
KHALID: Yeah, tell us a little bit more about that. I mean, you mentioned in your writing that this store was much more than just another mall business. I think a lot of folks imagine, you know, some retail is going out of business. Why is this different? Why is it different than just another mall business?
BROWNE: Well, I think, you know, when you go into a mall then and maybe now - whichever ones survive - you know, there'd be, like, your anchor department stores, there'd be, like, your knickknack stores and your gift stores, and things like that. And here was just, like, an entire store dedicated to music. And, you know, back then, especially I think we kind of forget that music and, you know, pop and rock and roll, before, it was kind of mainstream, you know, and kind of assimilated into the culture before MTV and all that, there was still something kind of counterculture about the music and the culture of it. And so it was so, like, symbolic. It was almost like validating, you know, to go into a store and see this - into a mall and see this business purely dedicated to, you know, the kind of music you'd - you know - you'd read about Rolling Stone, for example. It was quite a - it was like a vindication in a way of the music as well.
KHALID: So there will soon only be one Sam Goody store left, one location left. What do you think led to the brand's demise?
BROWNE: Sam Goody had a troubled history from the very beginning. You know, it started in the late '40s. It went to a chain in the '50s. It went bankrupt for a period. The owner, Sam Goody, sold it to another bigger company in the late '70s. And it flourished for a while, and then it basically just - it changed hands so many times over the years. You know, it was sold to the American Can Company, you know, and then it went to - was bought by Best Buy, and then it went to another company. And I think there were - that was part of it, and also, you know, the decline in people buying physical music. You know, the rise of digital music and online, you didn't have to go to a record store anymore.
KHALID: Well, David Browne, thank you very much.
BROWNE: Thank you.
KHALID: David Browne is a senior writer at Rolling Stone. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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