HMV Finally closing down for good?
- Thread starter Scania
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No, because you don't really shop for albums anymore. Services (spotify mainly) have been a big hit to these types of stores and are completely unable to compete. They need to be a lot smaller or a lot more orientated around gig/performers.
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I was referring to previous posts about Debenhams. However, Services like spotify, amazon prime, Netflix, apple music have all hit HMV hard. They should have tried to branch out with their own version of this years ago.
short termism.
For how long this time?
I thought Ashley perhaps amalgamating it with another shop would have worked, but don’t see a future for them unless they diversify massively tbh.
Stay of execution rather than salvation I’d imagine, I’ll see if this thread is resurrected in a year or so again.
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That was close - Hopefully I can continue to buy cheap blurays on their 3 for a tenner deal
A lot used to, then the "must improve shareholder payouts before everything else, so I get a bigger bonus" management era came in and they often split off the buildings into their own separate company (or subsiduary) where the main company paid them rent, or simply sold off the property for short term profits, at least for a lot of the older companies (Woolies did exactly this), which meant what is left is both paying rent and without some of the biggest long term assets so can't even take out loans based on the assets.
The really stupid part is how many companies sold off their buildings division to separate companies who mortgaged the buildings to pay for them.
Saved is probably a very generous term to use. Discharged from the critical care ward with new medication (debts wiped) but missing a number of appendages (a number of stores were not saved) might be more appropriate.
Good luck to them - they've clearly kept this model as a going concern in other countries, although over time they may find that the brutal contradiction (increasing rents and rates but decreasing footfall) of the UK High Street is tough to operate.
Good luck to them - they've clearly kept this model as a going concern in other countries, although over time they may find that the brutal contradiction (increasing rents and rates but decreasing footfall) of the UK High Street is tough to operate.
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Very sad that the flagship branch in London is closing down, used to go there years ago.
On the other hand, great that Vinyl is on the up-and-up
On the other hand, great that Vinyl is on the up-and-up
I've always liked HMV in the past because they've always been competitive on the blu-rays I've wanted to buy and even cheaper than Amazon on most occasions.... but then I popped in today. No 3 for £20, no 5 for £30 and most blu-rays didn't even have a price sticker on them. For the ones I could find, they had insane pricing like £14.99 for old MCU films like Thor + Captain America. I'll pay that for a brand new film but not ones that are 8+ years old. They really can **** off and die now. :/
The HMV brand is still strong so I don't understand why they don't expand their website and move the business online. Having large stores on the high street is more for prestige these days, it's not sustainable on it's own anymore, especially for digital media.
Sounds like Woolworths!
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JD Sports/Mike Ashley now owns Fishing Republic for anyone who likes Angling. It got purchased last year! Fishing Republic is now under Go Outdoors in Sunderland. Part of the 'outdoors' branding.
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I think HMV lost it when they pushed out their loyalty card (called Pure) for £3 around 2010 time. Blu-rays of Disney films from around the same time were £24 a pop where the Disney Store and Amazon had the same for £15.
Specifically for Stafford (my home town), HMV didn't appear until 2004, which was too little too late imo, then the early 2010s came and they couldn't stop the rot.
I liked it when there were a few record shops, with Our Price and Virgin Mega Stores running alongside HMV. Woolworths was a viable chain as well, albeit their top 40 chart was based on their own sales so it had slightly different entries / order from the official UK top 40.
Specifically for Stafford (my home town), HMV didn't appear until 2004, which was too little too late imo, then the early 2010s came and they couldn't stop the rot.
I liked it when there were a few record shops, with Our Price and Virgin Mega Stores running alongside HMV. Woolworths was a viable chain as well, albeit their top 40 chart was based on their own sales so it had slightly different entries / order from the official UK top 40.