Sam Goody closing its Windward Mall store
The Sam Goody store at Windward Mall closed for good last night, ending 14 years of business. The 6,446-square-foot store opened in 1994.
The decision was made by New York-based parent company, Trans World Entertainment Corp., said Jonathan Kim, general manager of the mall.
"We're working on a prospective tenant," said Kim. "I can't divulge who, but it is not a restaurant," he said, contrary to what a Sam Goody employee was told.
Sister store Suncoast is staying, Kim said.
No other local closures have been announced, but Trans World has been rebranding its former record stores to F.Y.E., which stands for For Your Entertainment.
"We've got some good stores in Hawaii," said John Sullivan, Trans World executive vice president, chief financial officer and secretary.
He did not cite a reason for the closure but said, "we close a number of stores on an annual basis. Markets are always changing."
The market for retail sales of CDs and DVDs has been declining as sales and piracy via the Internet and other digital apparatus have boomed.
Trans World reported holiday sales "well below our expectations" said Robert Higgins, chairman and CEO earlier this month, in a statement.
Music sales were down 28 percent and video sales were off 7 percent in November and December from a year ago, when sales were also down.
The company cited weakness in new product and low demand for the most recent drop.
Late last week the company announced plans to close sites in Ohio and New York, affecting 252 employees.
Many retailers have reported disappointing holiday sales. Last week, Zales announced it would close 60 unidentified stores.
Kim, of Windward Mall, has received no notification about the Kaneohe Zales and said, "our holiday season was really good."
The real Sam Goody
The stores' namesake was really named Sam Goody once he changed his name from Gutowitz. He got the Sam Goody nickname in his youth.
Goody started out as a toy-and-novelty retailer in New York in the years after World War II. By 1955 his Manhattan record store sold seven percent of the 33 1/3 r.p.m. albums sold in the U.S., according to his obituary in the New York Times. He sold his business and his name in the late 1970s and died in 1991 at age 87.