The number of record stores in Toronto's downtown grows ever smaller as Ontario music chain Sunrise Records prepares to shut down its two Yonge St. locations. Customers firstnoticed something was amissat the chain earlier this week when much of their inventory was put on a 40% off sale with a zero-returns policy. When reached by phone today, employees confirmed the stores, at336 Yonge St.and784 Yonge St., are now slated to close on November 15. (The chain'sEtobicoke storewill still remain open.)

The shutdown stems from the sale of the Sunrise chain to a new buyer in recent months; while the previous owners still own both buildings, the new owners weren't able to negotiate a lease for the property in the sale. (A similar fate is befalling other Sunrise stores, including one inSt. Catharines.) The closure leaves HMV at Yonge and Dundas, which recently launched a英航sement concert venue, andPlay de Recordas the last record stores standing along a strip that used to be full of them, including the gone but not forgottenSam The Record Man.