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Sam's Jams was owned and operated by Steve Milgrom. The name Sam's is an acronym for Steven Allen Milgrom. It opened up in a former furniture store in 1972. He had previously worked for Music Stop and Record Market. He sold a mixture of old and new releases for about 22 years until big box discount stores like Best Buy became too much to compete with. Steve also owned the Magic Bag, a local mainstay of live music in the Detroit area that it is still operating as of 2023.
Sam's sometimes featured live music right in the store as the articles below document. The store also dealt in used records and tapes, you could go and trade in your stuff or just sell it to the store. This is not something the major record labels loved LOL. I remember Record Market doing the same. Sam's also opened a classical only store called Symphony Sam in 1982. He also had another store across the street from Wonderland Mall in Livonia.
One word here on the news media. In the same newspapers, Sam's address is listed as 327 W Nine Mile and 279 W Nine Mile. One article states he opened in 1978 in a 20 square foot storeroom on Woodward, another article states he opened up in a furniture store in 1972. Nobody can open anything in 20 square feet. I guess they meant 20x20. There was also an article indicating he is closing after "20 years" but that was written in 1994. So that's 22 years. The same article contradicts itself.