were sold to Ryerson University along with the Yonge Street properties in January 2008. The chain subsequently expanded to 130 stores (including RD2000 stores) across Canada, before the recorded music and media business started to decline in the 1990s. At one time, the chain was the leading music retailer in Canada. The chain published a free music magazine (Network) in the late 1980s. One of the features in the magazine was a picture of a commissioned work of art (painting, collage, sculpture) by a local artist (among them Mendelson Joe and Kurt Swinghammer) depicting the store or brand. Some of these graphics were displayed in light boxes installed throughout the store or as the graphics for "Sam's Wear". 2001 bankruptcy In 2001, tough competition, narrow margins, and the availability of free music downloads from the Internet, forced the chain to declare bankruptcy. Most of its 30 corporate-owned stores closed. The Sniderman family was underwriting the chain's debt of $15 million for the previous five years and finally could not continue to lose money. Under new management, Sam Sniderman's sons Jason and Bobby Sniderman reopened the Yonge Street store in 2002, along with 11 franchise stores outside of Toronto. The franchise stores were not a part of the bankruptcy filing, but the corporate stores were. Eventually, all but one of the corporate stores closed. The last corporate store, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was shut down on February 20, 2007. Yonge Street flagship store closes On May 29, 2007, Jason and Bobby Sniderman announced that the iconic flagship store, on Toronto's Yonge and Gould Streets, would close permanently on June 30, 2007. They stated that "their decision reflects the increasing impact of technology on the record industry." There was also increasing pressure to rent out some of the property or sell it to Ryerson University, currently known today as Toronto Metropolitan University. On May 30, 2007, supporters started a Facebook group to save the store's neon spinning record signs titled "Save the Sam's Sign!!!"; the group, and its attached online petition, garnered more than 18,000 members. On June 14, 2007, it was announced that the signage, and some of the fixtures and memorabilia from the store, would be auctioned by Benaco Sales on June 27. The remaining stock had been greatly reduced to sell but was not sold at the auction sale. However, on June 22, 2007, the Toronto city council voted