Toronto Store Posters and Art Prints

Honest Ed's

Sam the Record Man was Canada's largest music store chain. At one time it had 140 locations across Canada.

Beckers (T-shirt)

....it store

Club Z

Sunglasses for sale with mannequin display store front. Street photography. Part of Kensington Market boutique charm. Toronto Ontario. Copyright Robert Alsop images.

Why you Sneak Attack with new Republic?

A&A Records was a Canadian record store chain. Prior to the expansion of Sam the Record Man in the early 1960s, A&A was the dominant record store chain in Canada. It was acquired by CBS Records after it lost the dominant market position to the Sam's chain, but was reacquired by a Toronto investment group in 1981. After an ill-advised attempt to rapidly expand their scope of operations in the late 1980s and early 90s, A&A Records filed for bankruptcy in 1993, shutting down all stores.

Mac's Milk MacTavish 1961

Ken McGowen opened up his first Mac's Milk convenience store on Richmond Hill, just north of Toronto. Ken came up with the name as it sounded like a friendly neighborhood guy, and included milk, as that's a core staple they would be stocking. As a nod to McGowen's Scottish roots, the mascot for Mac's was a cat named MacTavish, wearing a Tam o' shanter and a kilt, holding a jug of milk. McGowen opened seven more stores in 1962, but soon realized he needed capital to continue to grow, so Silverwood Dairies acquired 40% of Mac's Milk in 1963, allowing expansion to continue, and gave Mac's an edge on Silverwood's dairy products. Silverwood increased its holding to 80% in 1968, and 100% in 1972.