Remember Sam Goody in NJ? The last two stores in the U.S. are closing

While there is a certain novelty appeal for vinyl records, brick-and-mortar record stores are all but a thing of the past. Music, for the most part, is no longer a tactile art.

Liner notes, album covers and the whole experience have pretty much gone away as music has become intangible downloads.

One of the kingpins of the national chains was Sam Goody. New Jersey was full of them, often in mall locations.

I went to The Sam Goody store in Woodbridge Center Mall, where a couple of wings converged.

At that corner, the Sam Goody stood for years. It seemed like they had every kind of music and accessory you needed. Even posters. Remember flipping through those? Because what was a young teenager’s bedroom without posters in the 1980s?

Sam Goody had many New Jersey locations, including Paramus Park Mall, Clifton, Garden State Plaza, etc. I’m not sure when it was that they turned the lights off in the last one standing in the Garden State, but it’s been a while.

The chain was sold off to a different parent company, which turned some locations into F.Y.E.s, and there are still some of those in Jersey.

Now comes word that the very last two Sam Goody

Locations left in the entire nation are about to close. The only two left are the ones in Clairsville, Ohio, and Medford, Oregon. According to NJ.com.

The Ohio location will close for good in February 2025, and a date for the Oregon one hasn’t been decided.

The company started way back in 1951 and was founded by Sam Gutowitz. His nickname was Goody, and the name stuck.

He grew it into the empire it became, and he passed away in 1991 at 87 years old. Maybe it’s good he didn’t live through the bad times and see it all end. But he had a heck of a run.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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