The original store was established by Anne W. Bunis on Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo in 1928.
The company started when Mrs. Bunis returned from a trip to New York City with a set of 48 "sample" dresses, which she in turn sold for $12.75 each.
The last store in the then 11-store chain opened in 1988 at Walden Galleria in Cheektowaga, New York.
The Sample was famous for its "Pup Sale", the semi-annual clearance sale heralded in the newspapers by detailed very funny advertisements which blamed the excess merchandise on their buyer's whims, poor taste or their supposed temporary insanity.
The "pups" referred to the excess merchandise which was sold at very low prices.