Sunrise Records closing its downtown Toronto stores

The number of record stores in Toronto's downtown grows ever smaller as Ontario music chain Sunrise Records prepares to shut down its two Yonge St. locations. Customers first noticed something was amiss at the chain earlier this week when much of their inventory was put on a 40% off sale with a zero-returns policy. When reached by phone today, employees confirmed the stores, at 336 Yonge St. and 784 Yonge St., are now slated to close on November 15. (The chain's Etobicoke store will still remain open.)

The shutdown stems from the sale of the Sunrise chain to a new buyer in recent months; while the previous owners still own both buildings, the new owners weren't able to negotiate a lease for the property in the sale. (A similar fate is befalling other Sunrise stores, including one in St. Catharines.) The closure leaves HMV at Yonge and Dundas, which recently launched a basement concert venue, and Play de Record as the last record stores standing along a strip that used to be full of them, including the gone but not forgotten Sam The Record Man.