My kids have no appreciation for record stores. They strictly consume music via digital channels and have never purchased a compact disc.
When I was a teenager, record stores were vital. My weekends would revolve around trips downtown and I would visit Sam the Record Man, A&A and HMV at 333 Yonge Street, not necessarily in that order. The store with the lowest price for the disc I was buying would get my business.
I have many good memories of visiting HMV at 333 Yonge, sampling albums at the listening stations and digging through new hip-hop in the basement. I remember the thrill of being checked out by the actress who played Kathleen on Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High and the joy of bumping into Kish while he shopped for 12 inch singles.
Although I never worked at HMV I used to play for a slo-pitch team formed by HMV colleagues. These guys and gals would assemble monstrous CD collections and I'd borrow them by the dozens and rip them to MP3. This transfer to digital was the beginning of the end.
Yesterday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved an application to place HMV Canada into receivership. All 102 locations have to shut down by April 30.
It's the end of an era. Digital killed the record store.
