捷克佳博客

全球主流媒介掀创新风暴

【环球华报记者 肖元恺】北美是整个西方社会传媒业的重镇，集中反映了西方主流媒体的现状与趋势，因此不久前国际新闻创新大会选择在美国斯坦福大学举行，就不是偶然的了。

这次大会地点的选择固然重要，但时机的选择亦很敏感，会议组织者明确表示，当下全球化的历史进程遭遇重大转折，传媒在产业化与网络化的双重压力下，必须要进行生死定夺的“铁壁突围”，而其“突围”的唯一路径就是“创新”（Innovation），这也是本次大会的根本宗旨所在。近30个国家的与会代表的共识是：创新带来媒体振兴的可能性，但不创新媒体的衰落就是一种必然了。

此次会议组织者强调，今后报业的主流与非主流的划分，不再是传统意义上的所谓族裔与人口构成之分，而是创新与否的区别。《温哥华太阳报》（Vancouver Sun）的与会代表也表示，加拿大的报业也步入这样一个不进则退的“历史关头”。

高科技介入成亮点

此次新闻创新大会的参与者除了传媒从业人员外，还有许多跨国公司和科研机构的主管。由于斯坦福大学（Stanford University）位于硅谷中心地区帕拉阿托（Pola Alto），这里是世界一流的计算机开发重镇，得地利之便，直接宣示了本次大会网络技术推动传媒业发展的主题。

从发展角度说，和新技术的结合是传统纸媒的必由之路。电脑鼠标的发明者、手提电脑之父英格尔巴特（Douglas Engelbart），谷歌（ Google）副总裁玛耶尔（Marissa Mayer），柏克莱加州分校（UC Berkeley）数字传媒分析师（digital media strategist）法米兰（Seth Familian），路透社（Reuters）首席技术顾问奥哈德（Eric Auchard）等共聚一堂，探讨技术创新与传媒创新的关系。

他们普遍认为，驱动社会发生主要变化的是技术创新（technological
innovation），广泛影响到意识形态、经济发展、文化变异乃至人类行为等，并影响到决策者的思考方式。在技术创新中，新闻从业者具有自己的特殊作用，他们通过对社会政治经济的报道与分析，参与和影响创新的方向与过程。

继续尽全力强化区域咨询采集的能力，加大对覆盖领域监控的密度和深度，成为区域市场中的资讯强者。从技术手段说，一是加大人力和物力的投入，让报纸的触角尽可能涉及区域内的各个角落；二是加强同其主区域内媒体的资讯交换，主要整合自己在区域市场中的媒体布局，有效最大化利用好采集到的资讯。

新技术对传统报业起到助推作用，而对新闻源的控制将成为报业发展的根本。还有移动网页技术手段（mobile e-paper devices），正在带来传媒习惯的巨大改观，并对传统新闻业构成强劲的挑战。

从来没有像今天这么说，新技术对传媒带来的影响，内容是基础，技术给人力量，我们可以强调内容是根本，技术是手段，没有技术不行。

空前的危机

也就在不久前，《旧金山纪事报》（San Francisco Chronicle）突然大裁员，解雇100名报馆员工，这个数字是该报全体员工的四分之一。

雅虎副总裁洛伊德（Lem Lloyd）在此次会上指出，数字化时代的报纸前景，面临的最大挑战是新媒体，网络已吸引超过亿的读者，这些读者为报业共同争取。他预测，到2010年，网络新闻带动的广告将达90亿美元。

《纽约时报》（The New York Times）的高级记者马尔克夫（John Markoff）指出，如果现在讲网络新闻完全代替报纸，还言之过早，但在10-20年内，网络新闻能代替报纸的一半功能，则有专家的论证基础。对此，报纸坐以待毙吗？

网上杂志“Salon.com”的创办者塔尔伯特（David Talbot）激烈抨击报业公司在实行新闻垄断方面的官僚主义，以及缺乏想象力的管理方式。

他坦言办网络杂志有种“负罪感”，好象自己成为“报纸业的杀手”，但他认为报业对变革准备不足，面对数字化网络时代，先是趾高气扬，然后自怨自艾，如果走向衰亡，不是他杀而是“自杀”。他说报纸应挑战风险有所坚持，不能随意廉价变卖自己的产品。

《洛杉矶时报》（The Los Angeles Times）的行政主管查德勒尔（Harry Chandler）则说,根据掌握的数据，不管是分类广告、开页广告还是订户，都呈萎缩状态。对于报纸前景，查德勒尔提出几种可能性，一种是给固定订户提供某些“独有的服务”，在公司水平上经营多元化；另一种是“地区化”，用主要版面集中“地方性报道”，而不要面面俱到；第三种是使记者和编辑转型，更平民化和博客化，建立富有特色的博客网站，使网络与报纸结为一体。

创新成为生命线

目前报业发展的核心是创新，是报纸贯穿始终的灵魂。也可以说，体制创新是报纸发展的基石。普利策奖获得者、著名记者布里克雷（Joel Brinkley）在会上引证达尔文（Charles Darwin）的进化论，强调“适者生存”理论，提出报纸必须通过创新，来适应急剧变化的世界。

有专家指出，创新正在改变着新闻的专业内涵，甚至改变着新闻与社会的关系。会上通过对瑞典、丹麦、芬兰、斯洛文尼亚及其欧盟的介绍，表明创新新闻已成为整个欧洲新闻界的重点。

有专家不无诙谐地说，纸媒现在进入一个颇为“暧昧”的时代，存在身份确认的问题，尤其是依靠印刷出版的报纸，在网络世界挤压下出现边缘化问题，因此须要适应“新版图”。在“新新闻”的情势下，报纸生存问题提到议事日程。

强化运营增盈利点

《圣荷西水星报》（San Jose Mercury News）的主笔格尔（Vindu Goel）认为，以往那种发新闻拉广告的方式已不奏效，随着报纸固定读者群的逐渐老化和离去，新一代已形成网上阅读习惯，这种趋势在可预见的将来不可能发生逆转，因此必须要有新的生财之道。她说以前在汽车、就业和不动产等方面的分类广告，报纸居于绝对垄断地位，而现在已被网络严重分流。

媒体品牌价值的转化是很多媒体实施运营的瓶颈，广告实施专业、策划媒体组合，这里面有跨媒体的、跨区域的开拓。

以发行的渠道和网络为主体的现代运营是一个网络工程，也是一条产业链，传媒的经营必须依靠传媒优势发挥采编功能，在体制和机制上做出调整。运行过程中需要集中资源运作，适应市场，通过直接服务，在方便快捷中随时掌握读者的需求。

在广告销售中，请广告公司和产品销售公司一起开拓市场，共同发展。现在集广告、投资等多种经营项目为一体的集团已出现，集团买断报纸经营权，作为大股东享受投资收益；同时报纸的经营资源从以前简单的基础进行重新整合，和市场结合，同时相互间由股权控制联系制约。

有专家指出，明确报纸的市场定位，走有效办报的新途径。一是满足读者多元化需求，二是兼顾广告市场的需求。通过抓报纸质量，拓展读者市场，以读者市场带动发行市场，靠发行市场争取广告市场。

还有专家指出，经营是变传媒优势为传媒财富的重要手段，而传媒的经营必须依靠传媒优势，发挥采编功能。服务型报道创造信息平台，由此创造广告经营的效益。就发行队伍人才结构的调整而言，要把它打造成具有现代营销意识的直销网，而不是单纯的卖报纸。

良性竞争相辅相成

与会的《温哥华太阳报》代表说，随着一批新锐报纸的崛起，集中表现在一些重点城市的报业大战。斯坦福大学创新新闻科研项目的组织者史考拉尔（David Nordfors）强调，在来势凶猛的创新革命中，传播业并非完全被动，它会通过新概念发挥积极作用。

因为媒体可为多领域创新营造“共同语言”，为创新提供共享平台。科技创新维赖传媒得以迅速扩展和普及，互相借势。像《华盛顿邮报》、《华尔街日报》等，与硅谷科技都有这种关系。

有专家分析说，现在报纸的同质化和时效性在新媒体这种挑战下越来越突出，这种注意力的分散，导致竞争力的下降。谷歌副总裁玛耶尔表示，不应当把谷歌当作报纸的敌人，而应该当作一种即时性的新闻载体，使新闻更接近真实。

总体来看，这是一次朝前看的会议，更多需要的是合作而非对抗，共享解决问题的方略。通过开放式互联网环境，冲破纸质出版物的发行局限，加强编读互动，提高报刊竞争力，同时相应提高增值服务。

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Dollar adds zest to U.S. shopping

Cross-border retailing rising with the loonie, but visits far from peak due to security worries

May 31, 2007 04:30 AM
Dana Flavelle
business reporter

More Canadians are shopping in the U.S. now that the Canadian dollar has jumped to above 93 cents (U.S.), according to some mall operators in such border towns as Buffalo and Detroit.

But the exodus is nowhere near the rates seen in the early 1990s, statistics show, as concerns about U.S. border security continue to keep many Canadians at home and consumers have so much more choice here at home.

“We’re seeing a greater number of Canadian shoppers come down over the last 12 months,” said James Soos, general manager of Buffalo’s Walden Galleria mall.

Great Lakes Crossing, in Detroit, says it’s also seeing an increase, especially over Canadian holiday weekends.

Victoria Day was a “good crowd for a Monday,” said Melissa Morang, marketing and sponsorship director for Great Lakes mall. “Everybody who I approached was a Canadian.”

The dollar has been rising dramatically since hitting a low of 62.76 cents (U.S.) in 2001, giving Canadians a lot more purchasing power south of the border.

Canadian consumers also like the fact that U.S. malls offer a somewhat different selection of stores and merchandise, the mall managers said.

But cross-border shopping rates have yet to recover from the impact of the terrorist attacks of September 2001 on U.S. border security, and are stuck at levels last seen in the mid-’80s, according to federal statisticians.

“It fell off a cliff on Sept. 12, 2001, and basically hasn’t recovered,” said Philip Cross, director of economic analysis for Statistics Canada. “That link with the exchange rate is gone.”

Now, more Canadians are worried they’ll need a passport to enter the U.S. by land as early as January 2008.

“There’s a lot of perceptions out there that it’s just not worth popping across the border to fill up the tank,” Cross said.

Same-day car trips to the U.S., considered the best measure of cross-border shopping, hit a low of 20.8 million the year after terrorists attacked.

They remained low for the next two years, even while the Canadian dollar soared to 83 cents (U.S.) from 63 cents, federal data show.

Cross-border car trips have since recovered to near their pre-9/11 levels. But they are nowhere near the all-time high reached in 1991, when Canadians armed with 89-cent dollars and a hatred of the new goods and services tax made 59.1 million trips that year.

Another factor is the changing Canadian retail landscape, said retail consultant Anthony Stokan, of Anthony Russell Inc., in Toronto.

“Today is a very different world than a decade and a half ago when we were all cross-border-shopping mad even though the dollar is obviously at an extraordinary position unlike at any time in 30 odd years,” Stokan said.

Since the mid-’90s, many U.S. and European retailers have set up shop in Canada, giving consumers more selection at home.

“There really isn’t any need to cross-border shop any more,” Stokan said. “That’s how much the world has changed in less than a generation.”

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4C的标准

4C是指色泽(colour)、净度(clarity)、卡重量(carat)及车工(cut)，是世界公认测量钻石质素的标准。

色泽 COLOUR

颜色是评定钻石品质与价值的重要因素。

大部份钻石的色泽，可归纳为“无色透明”至“接近无色”，当中最高色泽以钻石-DIAMOND的字头“D”开始命名，直至Z色(淡黄色)钻石，而售价会随黄色色泽的增加而下调。

净度 CLARITY

每枚钻石均有内含物,内含物数量、大小、形状及颜色将会决定每一颗钻石的净度及特质。净度愈高，瑕疵愈少，光的折射则愈多，令其加倍璀璨。 可利用10倍放大镜，找出个中分别.净度分级为：IF、VVS1、VVS2、VS1、VS2、SI1、SI2、I1、I2、I3。

IF为最佳；但要特别留意，并非一定VS比VVS差，还是要看内含物的位置，通常外围花会比较好，因为不会影响折射。

另外如果有一枚钻石评为VVS而内含物系黑点，而另一枚VS货而内含物系白花，后者比较好，因为分级的定义系内含物的大小，而没有分黑点和白花。所以买钻石时不要太注重分级，而要注重内含物是黑点或是白花。

卡重量CARAT

钻石重量以卡(克拉)计算，1卡相等于100份，例如一枚0.40卡的钻石，可写成40份卡(克拉)。愈大的钻石当然愈罕有，可是即使两枚相同卡重量的钻石，价值亦会因其色泽，净度及车工而改变。

车工CUT

先天决定了每枚钻石的色泽、净度及重量，但是可凭后天的精湛车工，令光芒经过不同瓣面的折射，凝聚于钻石的顶部，将钻石深藏的闪烁光芒引发出来，散发慑人光采。

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边境局早备旅行文件恭候

明报/面临遣返命运的天津女子张虹，昨天怀抱女儿，在移民顾问的陪同下，来到位于皮尔逊机场附近的边境局，送交女儿的加拿大护照，岂料，边境局已经办妥一切旅行文件，并已安排她们母女于6月18日乘飞机返回中国。

为此，张虹表示，移民顾问已经为她延聘律师，昨天下午和律师面洽，商讨上诉至联邦法院的办法。

移民顾问凯洛格(Roy Kellogg)对边境局的迅速行动大表不满。

他说，本来该局要求张虹把女儿的护照交来，就是要办旅行文件，但其实他们早已利用护照的复印件，把一切都办好了。

“我实在没有料想到，他们动作如此迅速”。

他说，自从2003年以来，移民部总共积压了1.7万个人道居留申请。移民部每个申请案收取了550元手续费，却不做任何事情。人们递交了人道居留申请，在等待期间，仍然会被递解出境。

他说，张虹交申请已经9个月；但现在被告知，移民部再需要等待另外30个月，才能看她的申请。但是，如果到时候，即使移民部发现张虹的个案有获得同情的理由，张也早已被遣返，移民部的官员根本难以到中国去找到她了。

张虹说，对于被遣返回中国的前景，十分害怕。她最担心的是女儿今后的教育和医疗等问题，因为孩子是加拿大公民的身分，将可能无法享受中国儿童的免费教育；此外现在医疗费用改革，孩子的医疗费用恐怕需要自理。

她担心自己无力在这两方面可以为孩子提供足够的帮助。

凯洛格称，自从张虹的遭遇在中英文媒体报道后，她收到一些关心同情的邮件，有的人表示愿意和她结婚，以提供帮助。不过他又说，即使现在结婚成功，要改变遣返的进程，已经不大可能了。

张虹接遣返最后通牒 寄望下月上诉扭转乾坤

星岛日报记者韩锦萍/来自天津并已滞留加拿大10年的单身母亲张虹，昨日已收到加拿大边境服务处将其遣返回国的最后通牒，其一岁女儿Sherry也将在6月18日同机回国。目前，张虹将孤注一掷，寄望于6月11日的联邦法庭上诉。

昨日上午，张虹在移民顾问的陪同下，奉命再度到加拿大边境服务处递交女儿Sherry的加国护照，以便为她办理赴中国的旅行证件。代理张虹案件的移民顾问Kellogg称，边境服务处官员没有接受她递交的护照，反而对他们没有提供两张Sherry的照片表示不满。接着官员通知他们，不用再提供任何证件，官方会负责准备Sherry的旅行证件，张虹母女的回国时间定在6月18日。

Kellogg还表示，目前已经聘请移民律师Guidy Mamann为张虹做上诉联邦法庭的准备。预计上庭的时间在6月11日。这之前，还会向边境服务处发信交涉，以避免上庭，但这种成功的可能性微乎其微。

张虹面对昨日的结果，心中十分忐忑不安，为自己更为女儿今后的命运担忧。她表示，目前只能将最后的希望寄托在联邦法庭的上诉，为此她不惜用自己辛苦赚来的钱支付律师费用。

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互联网冲击CD市场 老字号无法招架

星报通讯社/多伦多市中心央街Sam the Record Man店，被视为这个城市的文化与音乐地标。市民总爱到那儿探听最新的音乐潮流，跟友侪们聚脚聊天，如果幸运的话，也许能一睹音乐界天皇巨星的风采！

然而，面对唱片零售业的激烈竞争，以及因互联网的关系，令CD销路不断下滑，Sam the Record Man店终于无法招架，宣布今年6月底全面结业。根据加拿大唱片业数据所示，单是2007年首个季度，CD销售量已下降35%。

波比．施尼达文(Bobby Sniderman)在周二发表的新闻公布中表示，该店今次的负责任决定，是确认了唱片业现时的处境，以及技术的不断冲击。

波比是该店现时的东主之一，亦是该个唱片店王国创办人森姆．施尼达文(Sam Sniderman)其中一名儿子。
1961年开业

他在公布中称，这儿有一个人们爱听的故事，但并非业界的现况，而是关乎一个经营了整整70年唱片零售的家族生意，期间这家族为音乐业界、为加国艺术界和整个社区献上全盘心力。Sam the Record Man店是加国最为人熟悉的名字，一个不会随时间烟没的名字。

森姆．施尼达文1937年时在兄长开设的收音机店售卖唱片。央街的Sam the Record Man旗舰店是在1961年开业。经过40多年的努力经营，分布全国的连锁店已有130间。央街的总店面积达4万平方尺。2002年，该店售卖的唱片有40万款。

他亦热心为加国音乐表演者提供协助，包括Joni Mitchell、Gordon Lightfoot、Anne Murray和像Guess Who等的乐队。因为他对加国音乐事业的贡献而获颁加拿大勋章。

该店2001年遇到困难，10月申请破产，12月底关门，后又重开。来自大型音乐店如HMV和折扣店如沃尔玛(Wal-Mart)的激烈竞争以及互联网下载音乐的普遍，令Sam the Record Man店受到严重打击。距离该店不远的A&A唱片店早于90年代结业。

售卖正版光碟店铺不惧翻版

星岛日报/位于多伦多的老字号音乐碟店铺Sam the Record Man宣布今年6月底全面结业，而在美国著名的TOWERS音乐店在同一天宣布结业，反映售卖正版光碟的市场似有式微现象。在华社向以售卖正版光碟的店铺认为，虽然翻版光碟确实会影响正版的销路，但仍拥有一批喜爱正版的顾客支持。

目前在本地售卖正版光碟的店铺并不多，其中开业多年的广播道，其职员表示，市面上售卖翻版光碟的店铺林立，真正出售正版的可说是寥寥可数。除了部分消费者购买翻版外，一些年青人亦会在网上下载音乐及电影，对正版的销售市场造成冲击。该店向来出售正版光碟，也拥有支持的顾客，所以不乏销路。

另一间属于老字号的娱乐城，也是售卖正版音乐、电影电影剧集的店铺。其中当值的职员说，由于主管不在店内，不能代表公司发表意见。

但她个人认为，即使市面上售卖翻版光碟风气盛行，但其质素较差，因此有不少顾客宁可前来购买正版，这样较有保障，销售也是尚好。

销量跌 难敌竞争 逾50年唱片老店月底结业

【明报专讯】在央街夹登打士街多市最热闹地段开设的城中音乐制品名店“Sam the Record Man”，在经营了50多年之后，已经决定，将于下月底关闭，退出历史舞台。事件被多伦多一些英文媒体形容为是“一个时代的终结”。

该店创办人斯尼德曼(Sam Sniderman)的两个儿子Jason和Bobby昨天表示，导致他们做出关店决定的主要因素，包括CD销售的下降趋势；音乐制品业技术日新月异的变化，包括网上下载音乐的技术；和来自其他连锁店的竞争。

该公司发出的新闻稿称，“我们是在正视音乐制品业目前的状态，和技术变化影响之后，才做出这个负责任的决定的”。

新闻稿称，店门虽然即将关闭，但该店的影响则将长留在加拿大的历史上。今后如果有新的机会来临，他们还会考虑东山再起，扩大品牌。

这间音乐制品店是从一间家庭商业起家的。创办人斯尼德曼早于1936年开始在他兄弟的无线电商店里卖唱片。

至1961年，在现在的地方开设了这间音乐制品店。到高峰时，该店在全加拿大拥有130间连锁店，央街的店就成为旗舰商店。

该店因销售加拿大音乐家、歌唱家的作品而闻名，帮助一些本地尚未成名的音乐人销售唱片。斯尼德曼并因此获得过加拿大勋章。许多加拿大最出名音乐名人都来过该店，并留下许多照片。

当听到这间店将关闭的消息时，一些本地传媒人表示，央街上没有了这间音乐制品店，央街就不是原来的央街了。

这间总店占地4万平方尺，门面上部装有巨大的唱片，夜间则霓虹灯闪亮，被当成市中心的地标之一，经常吸引许多游客。2002年，店内拥有40万件各类音乐制品。

在总店关闭之后，这间曾经一度气势恢宏的唱片店，就只剩下2间独立店了。都在安省，分别在Belleville和Sarnia。

该店早在2001年已经破产过一次，但于次年由两兄弟重开。当时两兄弟也曾经有过雄心壮志，但互联网下载和超市也参与售卖音响制品，最终令到该商店无力竞争。

Sam the Record Man finally signs off

Yonge St. store will close for good on June 30, unable to compete with downloads and superstores

May 30, 2007 04:30 AM
Debra Black
Staff Reporter

It was an iconic landmark in Toronto – both culturally and musically. Everybody who was anybody in Toronto went to Sam the Record Man on Yonge St. to get the latest music, hang out and, if you were lucky, maybe catch a glimpse of a burgeoning music star.

But as of the end of June, Sam the Record Man is finally closing its doors – a victim of the vagaries of the retail record business and declining CD sales thanks to the Internet. According to Canadian record industry statistics, sales of CDs have dropped 35 per cent in the first quarter of 2007 alone.

“We are making a responsible decision in recognizing the status of the record industry and the increasing impact of technology,” said Bobby Sniderman in a news release issued yesterday.

Sniderman is one of the present owners of the store and one of the sons of Sam Sniderman, the man who built the record store dynasty that rivalled many around the world.

“But there is a wonderful story to be told here, not about the current state of the industry, but about a family business that operated for 70 years in record retailing. Throughout that time our family has made significant contributions to the music industry, for Canadian artists and to the community as a whole …

“This is about more than just bricks and mortar; Sam the Record Man is the most recognizable name in the Canadian music industry, an iconic legacy that will forever endure …”

Sam Sniderman first began selling records out of his brother’s radio shop in 1937. The flagship store on Yonge St. – with its garish neon signs of spinning records – was opened in 1961. Over 40 or so years, Sniderman turned it from a one-shop operation into a successful chain of 130 stores across Canada. The Yonge St. store covered 40,000 square feet. In 2002, it carried 400,000 titles.

Sniderman took pride in his business as baby boomers and music lovers flocked to his Yonge St. music shrine, famous for its Boxing Day lineups and discounts.

“That was the point where I knew every record in the store,” he told the Star’s Mitch Potter in 2001. “Sometimes I got stumped. But more often than not, you could ask me for the most obscure record on the planet and I would disappear for a few minutes and come back with it in my hands.”

Along the way Sniderman also helped Canadian performers, including Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray and bands like the Guess Who. His contribution to the music business earned him an Order of Canada.

But the company ran into trouble in 2001, filing for bankruptcy in October and closing its doors in late December. Competition from music superstores such as HMV and discount retailers like Wal-Mart, coupled with Internet downloads, all spelled trouble for the Toronto record retailer. A&A Records two doors away also closed in the 1990s.

At the Boxing Day sale that year, consumers were upset that Sam the Record Man was closing. “I used to come here as a kid to buy 33s for 66 cents,” one Hamilton man told the Star. “I would buy early Beach Boys, the Beatles. It has been my life tradition.”

The legendary flagship store opened again in January 2002, however, as a new company owned by Sniderman’s two sons, Bobby and Jason Sniderman.

Bobby Sniderman wasn’t available for comment yesterday.

The two brothers had big plans. But the popularity of the Internet and music superstores proved too much.

Despite valiant efforts, the brothers just couldn’t make it work. Sam the Record Man on Yonge St. will close its doors on June 30.

Two franchise operations in Belleville and Sarnia will remain open.

EDITORIAL：The day the music die

May 31, 2007 04:30 AM

The landmark Sam The Record Man store on Yonge St. was more than just a place to buy the latest music. For decades, music-loving kids in the Toronto area went there to buy vinyl LPs and, later, tapes and CDs. The old building, with its garish signs of spinning records, was known for its vast selection and helpful staff who could steer customers through the narrow aisles to find almost any musical request.

But after 70 years, the family business is closing for good on June 30, the victim of declining CD sales, thanks mainly to the Internet.

Sam Sniderman, who began selling records out of his brother’s radio shop in 1937 and opened the flagship store in 1961, was more than just a record seller. He was a passionate promoter of Canadian music, giving many homegrown artists such as Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and the Guess Who the shelf space that helped launch their careers.

Sam The Record Man has been a fixture on Yonge St., both musically and culturally. Music lovers everywhere will mourn its passing.

Your Sam the Record Man memories

May 31, 2007 11:12 AM
We asked you to tell us your Sam the Record Man memories. Here’s what you had to say.

I’ve been going to Sam’s for nearly 45 years. My most memorable experience was lining up to buy the Beatles’ White Album on the first day it went on sale. A Sam’s employee was just taking the albums out of box and writing the price on the cover with a magic marker. Probably half my CD collection comes from Sam’s. I’ll be sorry to see it go.
Thomas Linderoos, Toronto

Sam’s will be missed. No other retailer besides the web had such a wide selection of artists and back catalog. I miss the Montreal store very much and would go to the Yonge St. store every time I came to visit Toronto. A knowledgeable staff and wide selection are now going to be even more difficult to find.
Kevin McCoy, Montreal

The legacy that Sam the Record Man has built should be honoured by the City of Toronto. It should be named a Historical Landmark and perhaps it could become the home of the Canadian Record and Music Hall of Fame.
Patrick Rutledge, Toronto

I remember going to Sam’s to find a record that I couldn’t find anywhere unless I ordered it from Europe. I was lucky enough that Sam himself was in the store that day. I asked a clerk and he then asked Sam, and low and behold, Sam came through with a copy. I even got it at regular price rather than import all because Sam and I had something in common: love of music. You will be missed.
Laurence Habel, Vancouver

Sam the Record Man on Yonge St. is as important to this city as the CN Tower. I will always remember taking the subway from Scarborough and spending hours in the store. I’d search every inch of the store buying music, compiling a wish list and talking to the staff about music. I will truly miss Sam the Record Man and will always look back at those excursions with a smile.
Troy St. Denis, Oshawa

I remember coming to visit my brother in hospital and going to Sam’s to buy him 45s from the CHUM Top 100. He developed quite a collection.
Elvina Barclay, Etobicoke

I remember visiting Toronto and buying records at Sam’s. It is a shame that this landmark could not survive. I would think a civic-minded individual or company would purchase the building and reopen it as a restaurant or music club, keeping the Sam’s name as part of Toronto landscape.
Mark Pardue, Fergus, Ont.

I still buy a lot of music from Sam’s, since they are more knowledgeable and carry more esoteric stock in music then the Big Box/Wal-Mart stores will ever sell. In the article it says that CD sales are down. Could it be that a lot of great artists get little or no radio play so people can’t hear them? So why would you buy a CD from an artist you haven’t heard before?
Alan Whitley, Toronto

When I immigrated to Canada in the early 80s from Vietnam, I knew nothing about English music. My sister’s boyfriend took me to Sam the Record Man. I was overwhelmed with the selections. I ended up making my first ever purchase of English music, a single LP of U2’s “With or Without You” at Sam the Record Man. I still have it at home.
Jett Chow, Toronto

Thanks to Sam’s and my father, my grounding in fine music started young and has continued undiminished for almost 70 years. I hope the thieving downloaders are happy with their handiwork.
Larry Solway, Toronto

Almost 30 years ago, I walked into the store looking for what I figured was an impossible find: a recording of the Christmas children’s opera Amahl and the Night Visitor for my Dad. Sam managed to floor me; I had looked by myself for half an hour before going to him and within 5 minutes he was back with a copy of the original recording from the CBS annual Christmas broadcast from 1951. So instead of sitting around a TV, we sat around the record player and had wonderful memories of Christmas’s long, long ago.
Judy Kennedy, Campbell River, B.C.

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RBC Capital Markets sees loonie topping 96 cents US this summer
Wed May 30, 11:49 AM

TORONTO (CP) - RBC Capital Markets is raising its target for the Canadian dollar.

The investment banking division of the country’s largest bank now expects the currency to hit 96.15 cents US by the end of September. The loonie hasn’t been above 96 cents since early 1977. The currency, currently just above 93 cents, is up about eight per cent so far in 2007 as traders anticipate rising interest rates in Canada and lower rates in the United States.

The Bank of Canada fed this speculation Tuesday when it strongly hinted that a rate hike may be necessary in the near term to curb inflation.

RBC thinks the central bank will raise rates three times this year by a total of three-quarters of a point, with the first hike coming in July.

The central bank’s key rate now stands at 4.25 per cent.

The currency has also been supported by strong Canadian economic data, higher commodity prices and corporate takeovers that raised demand for Canadian dollars.

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