Sam Goody - History

History

Sam "Goody" Gutowitz (1904-1991) of New York City opened a small record store on New York's 9th Avenue shortly after the advent of vinyl long-playing records in the late 1940s. Although he did some retail business, most of his volume was in mail-order sales at discount prices. He became something of a folk hero among impecunious college students as the first successful large-scale LP discounter.
http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/the-story-of-sam-gutowitz
the above link provides information regarding Sam Goody before and after 1978 acquisition by competitor Musicland. From the '50s to '70s, Sam Goody was known for its eclectic mix of music from around the world including rarities, as well as the full spectrum of American music and record releases in all musical categories including classical, jazz, country, swing, shows and soundtracks, easy-listening, vocals, piano, guitar and recordings that were difficult or impossible to find elsewhere. Many Goody stores had experts in numerous music fields and experts who knew record companies and labels which added to the customer's accessibility to their musical choices. However, the '80s and '90s saw Sam Goody as standardized mainstream in every mall that was an opposite approach to the earlier years.

Later, The Sam Goody name was applied to a chain of record stores established in 1951 by Sam Gutowitz. The company was acquired by rival Musicland, based in Minneapolis, in 1978. Sam Goody continued to grow through both acquisitions and organic growth, including the launch of its website. The stores averaged 4,600 square feet (430 m2) but varied in size from 1000 to 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2). The Musicland Group was once the largest music retailer in the country, operating at its peak more than 1300 stores, over 800 of them Sam Goodys, and earning over $2 billion in annual revenue.