{"id":898558,"date":"2026-04-11T13:13:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T18:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/steves-music-store-in-toronto-opens-its-doors-for-the-last-time\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T13:13:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T18:13:01","slug":"steves-music-store-in-toronto-opens-its-doors-for-the-last-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/steves-music-store-in-toronto-opens-its-doors-for-the-last-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve\u2019s Music Store in Toronto opens its doors for the last time"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Toronto<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The Steve\u2019s Music Store location in the Queen Street W. neighbourhood is shutting its doors after nearly five decades of bringing music lovers in Toronto together.<\/p>\n

After nearly five decades in the Queen Street W. neighbourhood, the store is closing<\/h2>\n
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The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Toronto says goodbye to the iconic ‘Steve’s Music Store’ after nearly 50 years of business<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Steve’s Music Store has been a mainstay on Queen Street for nearly 50 years. The store was a pillar in Toronto’s music community, a go-to spot to buy a new guitar or for musicians to gather and celebrate their love for music. CBC Toronto spoke with the store’s managers and loyal patrons, as they bid farewell to the iconic shop.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Steve\u2019s Music Store location in the Queen Street W. neighbourhood is shutting its doors after nearly five decades of bringing music lovers in Toronto together.<\/p>\n

Salesperson David Matthews said it hasn\u2019t quite sunk in yet that Sunday marks their last day of operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was kind of a surprise to us,\u201d he told CBC News. \u201cI’ve been mostly postponing me being sad until after I’m gone. So this week after, when I wake up for my regular shift and I don’t have to come in, that’ll probably set in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthews says some regulars come from the countryside to visit the store.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis happened so quickly. There’s a few people that visit me back in acoustics every year that are going to show up and see an empty store,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel kind of sad about that because I won’t be able to say goodbye or wrap up conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Since opening its Toronto location in 1977, the store\u2019s bold yellow signage and vast assortment of instruments have drawn in visitors from across the city and beyond. (Bienvenu Senga\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In February, Steve\u2019s Music Store announced plans to downsize operations. The chain retailer posted a statement to its website saying it would be holding in-store liquidation sales and that \u201ccertain locations\u201d would close, but it did not specify how many \u2014 or which ones \u2014 would be shutting down.<\/p>\n

Since opening its Toronto location in 1977, the store\u2019s bold yellow signage and vast assortment of instruments have drawn in visitors from across the city and beyond. Among them \u2014 Jack White, the frontman for rock band White Stripes, Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis and Zakk Wylde, guitarist for \u201cPrince of Darkness\u201d Ozzy Osbourne, according to the store’s Instagram posts.<\/p>\n

Steve\u2019s Music Store first opened in Montreal in 1965. Its founder, Steve Kirman, was just 19 at the time. The store quickly became well known for its collection of instruments and for letting prospective buyers try them out before making a purchase.<\/p>\n

Kirman died in 2012 following a brief illness, 47 years after opening his first store.<\/p>\n

Flocks of visitors made their way to the Toronto location Sunday in the hopes of getting one last trial run, and one last visit, at the mainstay on Queen Street W.<\/p>\n

Singer songwriter Lala Noel said she\u2019s excited to have been able to make it to the store\u2019s final day.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve has really created a culture,\ufffd\u201d she said. \u201cI remember being in high school and playing guitar and coming to the store.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Steve’s Music Store quickly became well known for its collection of instruments and for letting prospective buyers try them out before making a purchase. (Bienvenu Senga\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Noel added Steve\u2019s Music Store has always created a safe space, where anyone can ask questions and be heard. She recalls one of her best friend\u2019s big sisters working at the location when she was younger.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was so badass, she was in a metal band and she just made the idea of women in music really accessible and for Steve to recognize that and put her at the front,\u201d she said. \u201cI think, especially as women in music, to feel welcome and safe in these spaces is a feat. So it will be missed, truly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emerging artist Chiara Urban and her father, Petr Urban, also came out to the store for its last day. Chiara told CBC Toronto it\u2019s bittersweet to relive the memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember playing a piano here. I remember seeing cool guitars here. But the feeling of Toronto losing a part of itself is not great,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Chiara says she likes the idea of being able to hold and feel the instrument ahead of purchasing it. Petr says he brought her here a few times while she was growing up. Before that, in the 1980s, it was he who used to hang out at the store.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt smells the same,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was one of the go-to places when you would hang out on Queen Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Ottawa store’s manager, music lovers hoping to get their hands on some Steve’s Music Store instruments and gear will need to head to the location on rue Sainte-Catherine in Montreal from here on out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Music ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/h2>\n
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Gabriela Silva Ponte has been with CBC News Toronto since January 2025. Currently, she works as a web writer but has previously taken on a variety of reporting roles in ethnic media newsrooms and at TMU. Gabriela graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University with a Bachelor of Journalism. You can reach her at ga******************<\/span>@*<\/span>bc.ca<\/span>.<\/p>\n