They needed to do it 20 years ago
HMV Finally closing down for good?
- Thread starter Scania
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They needed to do it 20 years ago
Soldato
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Exactly.
Yeah pretty much. My Amazon online music library is a good couple of hundred songs in size I would assume and it is all from CD's I've purchased in the past. It is a shame that they're MP3's and not FLAC's but either way it is very handy.
It is only for certain albums it seems:
"AutoRip is available only for eligible CDs and vinyl sold by Amazon EU Sarl (but does not apply to gift orders or PrimeNow orders). See Terms and Conditions for full details, including costs which may apply for the MP3 version in case of order returns or cancellations."
I've been wondering about Boots too - it is a dead store in my town. Everytime I wander in there I am always alone (reminds me of Debenhams) and I feel my every move in the mens section being judged
Probably not much chance now, but they were an established business back when those companies were just tiny start ups. They've had 20 years resting on their laurels flogging CDs and DVDs/BluRay in physical shops when the world changed around them and they were slow to react. It is perfectly natural for them to die just as the likes of Blockbuster video died etc..
It took them several years of being raped by the likes of play.com in the late 90s/early 00s before they even bothered to open a warehouse in the Channel Islands at the time when the VAT loophole made that a good idea. The fact Amazon existed should have prompted a bit more focus on an online business too - it isn't like there wasn't plenty of publicity about how the internet or "the information super highway" as the press used to call it in the 90s was going to revolutionise shopping etc.. Amazon started expanding beyond books back in 1998, Bezos was later nominated Time magazine's person of the year back in 1999 for popularising online shopping - I don't think it was any secret that online shopping was going to be massive.
Apple launched iTunes in 2003 and HMV's response was.....
Blockbuster was an even bigger fail by the execs - they actually had the chance to buy Netflix for 50 million at one point!
Soldato
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Don't evolve and run into the ground. People can get jobs elsewhere. Luckily not all companies think like that.
I still buy BR discs. In fact my last film purchase was the Harry Potter box set from HMV.
I’m a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to tech. We do subscribe to Netflix, TV Now and Prime but only because we can’t get satellite or cable.
That what I never understood both blockbuster & HMV had loads of money & great resources back then to start a great online download service and they didn't
But even if they did I guess there retail stores would have still ended up closing and they would been just another online place..
That what I never understood both blockbuster & HMV had loads of money & great resources back then to start a great online download service and they didn't
But even if they did I guess there retail stores would have still ended up closing and they would been just another online place..
Pretty common for big businesses to fail to adapt to new trends, new businesses pop up that can act quickly and make key decisions without having to answer to shareholders or multiple links in the chain. Once a business gets to a certain size it becomes incredibly difficult for it to reinvent itself and will either die off, hang on with legacy customers or try to acquire new startups to add to its services.
Yep, they wont be going anywhere for a long time as long as the pensioners are getting sick every 5 mins!
But as for WHSmiths............
Soldato
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@dowie all valid points, but bear in mind that all these start ups didn't have a bricks and mortar national chain that they had to keep
Absolutely. The argument here seems to be that HMV should have evolved into an online service... But how would that save the high street stores!
The reason all these online media outlets flourish is because they don't have high street stores.
Absolutely. The argument here seems to be that HMV should have evolved into an online service... But how would that save the high street stores!
The reason all these online media outlets flourish is because they don't have high street stores.
I guess when businesses are this big they also think there very safe and nothing can touch them till it to late..
Indeed. Most of those companies I was just contracting for, but you could see the writing on the wall. The writing has been on the wall for HMV for nearly 10 years now.
I don't see why that in itself is a hinderance, those stores were profitable in the past. HMV didn't have to keep every brick and mortar store either!
Yet Amazon is now looking into opening physical stores.
The argument is that HMV could have invested in an online business years ago, that might have been able to save the company, not necessarily every high street store.
Soldato
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A lot of the issues these companies face is they have too many stores, In Nottingham we have both a HMV and a Fopp and the Fopp is in the Broadmarsh shopping centre which is basically a ghost town. Yet they will be paying high rents on both shops, we don't need 2 shops in Nottingham city centre either. Game had a the same issues, too many shops.
That's why you see so many food and coffee shops failing in the high street. They are not bringing anything new, they are just trying to take a slice of the cake from someone that is already there. Sometimes it works and the incumbent goes under, more often the newcomer fails in the face of the existing customer base staying where they are.
Soldato
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From what the chap from Debenhams was saying last night in the BBC review of high street shopping in 2018, the problem a lot of established chains have/had is being locked into long leases of the buildings they rent on the high street, so they had to find ways to make money by foot fall.
Plus I suspect many leases have limitations upon what a shop can sell, so for example, HMV stores couldn't easily start setting up coffee shops in each of their stores.
Plus I suspect many leases have limitations upon what a shop can sell, so for example, HMV stores couldn't easily start setting up coffee shops in each of their stores.
Soldato
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i'd love to go in and pick up CDs but the price is such a turn off
£15 or more for some discs that i can get for £10 or under on ebay
it's catch 22 as they need to charge more for the staff and rent of the shop
£15 or more for some discs that i can get for £10 or under on ebay
it's catch 22 as they need to charge more for the staff and rent of the shop
Soldato
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When this type of thread crops why do people always assume WHSmiths/Boots are going under soon? At least do a little research, WHSmith seemed to have seen this coming and went, presumably along with boots into the Airports/Travel sector .....
http://www.whsmithplc.co.uk/docs/WHSmith_AR18_WEB_FINAL.pdf