# Sam Gutowitz

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{{Short description|American retail businessman (1904–1991)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date= October 2025}}
{{Use American English|date= October 2025}}

'''Samuel "Goody" Gutowitz''' (February{{nbsp}}25, 1904{{snd}}August{{nbsp}}8, 1991) was an American businessman and the founder of the {{nowr|[Sam Goody](/source/Sam_Goody)}} record{{nbsp}}store chain.

He was born in [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan) on February{{nbsp}}25, 1904,{{zwj}}<ref name="NYT obit">{{Cite news |date=1991-08-09 |title=Sam Goody, Who Started Chain Of Record Stores, Is Dead at 87 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/09/nyregion/sam-goody-who-started-chain-of-record-stores-is-dead-at-87.html |access-date=2025-10-28 |newspaper=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |lccn=sn78004456 
|issn=0362-4331 |eissn=1553-8095 |oclc=1645522 |language=en}}</ref> the eldest of three children of Fanny and ladies' [tailor](/source/tailor) Julius Gutowitz, who was born in Poland.{{zwj}}<ref name="Speak" />

He later legally changed his name to Sam{{nbsp}}Goody.{{zwj}}<ref name="No Depression">{{Cite web |date=2011-12-15 |title=The Story of Sam Gutowitz |url=https://nodepression.org/the-story-of-sam-gutowitz/ |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=No Depression: Roots Music and Culture Journalism |language=en}}</ref>

In 1978, Gutowitz sold the Sam{{nbsp}}Goody chain to the [American{{nbsp}}Can Company](/source/American_Can_Company) for $5.5{{nbsp}}million{{zwj}}<ref name="No Depression" /> (equivalent{{nbsp}}to ${{format price|{{inflation|US-GDP|5500000|1978|r=-6}}}} in{{nbsp}}{{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{zwj}}{{inflation/fn|US-GDP}}).

In 1940, Gutowitz married Sadie Deutsch.{{zwj}}<ref name="Speak">{{Cite news |date=1984-12-30 |title=Long Islanders; Sam Goody: Let the Record Speak |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/30/nyregion/long-islanders-sam-goody-let-the-record-speak.html |access-date=2025-10-28 |newspaper=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |lccn=sn78004456 
|issn=0362-4331 |eissn=1553-8095 |oclc=1645522 |language=en}}</ref> They had two{{nbsp}}sons, Howard{{nbsp}}and Barry, and two{{nbsp}}daughters.{{zwj}}<ref name="NYT obit" />

In 2015, for the filming of the HBO television series ''[Vinyl](/source/Vinyl_(TV_series))'', [Martin Scorsese](/source/Martin_Scorsese) turned the [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn) branch of [Rough{{nbsp}}Trade](/source/Rough_Trade_(shops)) into a 1970s Sam{{nbsp}}Goody store.{{zwj}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Khomami |first=Nadia |date=2015-07-31 |title=Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger team up for record label drama |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/31/martin-scorsese-mick-jagger-record-label-drama-tv |access-date=2025-10-28 |work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutowitz, Samuel}}
Category:1904 births
Category:1991 deaths
Category:American retail company founders
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:20th-century people from New York (state)
Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent
Category:American music industry executives
Category:Businesspeople from Manhattan
Category:People from Woodmere, New York

{{US-business-bio-1900s-stub}}
{{NewYork-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sam Gutowitz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Gutowitz) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Gutowitz?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.