Samuel N. Cohen

Samuel N. Cohen, CM, LL.D., (July 9, 1919 – July 28, 1988) was a Canadian entrepreneur, community builder, philanthropist, and Member of the Order of Canada. Married to the late Leatrice Cohen (née Diamond), he is survived by his two sons (Charles and Mark); and his daughter Sheri.

He was born in 1919 to Alexander Cohen and Rose Diamond.

Sam's five brothers, John, Albert D. Cohen, Morley Cohen, Harry B. Cohen, and Joseph H. Cohen, set up a small retail store and, by 1939, the family had scraped together enough monies to create General Distributors Ltd., a wholesale import firm.

By 1950, General Distributors sales amounted to $1 million. In the early Fifties, the company obtained exclusive Canadian rights for Paper Mate pens. Then, in 1955, brother Albert D. Cohen accomplished the most amazing feat of landing the Canadian distribution rights to Sony products. Spotting an ad in a Japanese newspaper seeking a distributor for a new portable transistor radio, Albert met with Sony co-founder, Akio Morita. On the basis of a handshake deal, Albert cemented a partnership that would last for decades. The Cohen brothers scattered across Canada in order to manage the national business, each brother establishing himself in a major city: Morley (Montreal), John (Toronto), Joe (Vancouver), Harry (Calgary), and both Sam and Albert setting up headquarters (Winnipeg).

The six brothers expanded into real estate and retailing. Over the years, they established several hundred SAAN Stores and Metropolitan junior department stores in all provinces of Canada. The explosive growth of the SAAN Stores chain was guided by Samuel N. Cohen while Metropolitan's expansion was overseen by Morley Cohen. At one point, it is said the Cohen brothers owned downtown real estate in almost every major Canadian city. By 1983, the company was a diversified Canadian conglomerate, renamed Gendis.

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