Sam Goody, the once-ubiquitous music and entertainment retail chain founded in 1951, is set to close one of its last two remaining U.S. stores next year. However, recent media reports saying that both locations will soon shutter may have been premature, Fast Company has learned.Currently, the Sam Goody brand has a store in the Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and another one in the Rogue Valley Mall in Medford, Oregon. The Ohio Sam Goody is expected to shut its doors sometime in February 2025, a rep for the mall confirmed.A number of media outlets reported this week that the Oregon Sam Goody is also closing. But when reached by phone, an employee of the store strongly denied those reports.Its not true, said Gavin Culver, the stores manager. Were going to do the last Blockbuster kind of thing because were cool like that out here. Were not going anywhere.Management for the malls office also said it hadnt heard anything about the store closing when contacted by Fast Company. And a representative for Spinoso Real Estate Group, which operates the mall, further confirmed via email that the location is staying open. A bygone era of music retailThe Ohio Valley Mall store, which opened in 1980, was once a major hub for music enthusiasts, offering a wide range of vinyl, CDs, and other media. Store manager Rick Polanski, a 43-year veteran of the location, acknowledges the shifts since the stores heyday: Its changed over the years, and it [stinks], Polanski toldthe Times Leader. I put two-thirds of my life into this place. We were a $2 million store at one point, but times have changed.Its unclear why the decision is being made now, as no formal statement was released.Sam Goody began as a side venture for its founder, Sam Goody Gutowitz, who started out selling records from his toy and novelty store in New York City. Over the decades, the chain grew into a prominent music retailer, becoming a staple in malls and shopping centers across North America.The company eventually merged with entertainment retailer Musicland, according to Rolling Stone, when Goody passed away in 1991. There were 320 stores nationwidemost of which had been opened after the Musicland acquisition.Once the company was acquired by Trans World Entertainment in 2006, many of the 345 media retail giants stores began closing and many were rebranded as FYE (For Your Entertainment) stores.Fast Company also reached out to FYE for comment.By 2012, only a handful of Sam Goody stores were left operating under the original name. Since then, these stores have continued to close, leaving only the last two locations in Ohio and Oregon.Since the rise of the digital era, sales of physical mediaincluding CDs, vinyl, and DVDshave seen a significant decline as digital streaming and downloads became the dominant method of content consumption. Tower Records, another formerly ubiquitous record store chain, closed its last location in 2006.Additionally, the mass closures of shopping malls, where Sam Goody was a prominent staple, may have contributed to the stores end.