Last days for HMV?

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JQW
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Last days for HMV?

Postby JQW » 05 Jan 2013, 23:55

I've seen reports tonight that HMV have been seen marking up their back catalogue stock in several stores with stickers carrying either blue or red stars.

Allegedly this is as part of a major sale starting soon where most catalogue stock will get discounted heavily.

So, it looks like it will soon be over for them.
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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby The Modernist » 05 Jan 2013, 23:58

I never go in there anymore. It's still decent for DVD's but its music stock is dreadfully limited. I've been expecting this day to arrive for awhile. At least we might get some bargains in the sale.

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trans-chigley express
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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby trans-chigley express » 06 Jan 2013, 00:03

the decline in Hong Kong's clutch of HMV stores since I've lived here has been marked. 15 years ago the Tsimshatsui store was the best music store in HK with an entire floor of rock and pop with other genres on another floor. These days it's hard to find a music section in any of their stores with perhaps a shelf or two hidden away in a corner somewhere with nothing of any note worth browsing at. It needs putting out of its misery.

It's good for films but I'm not much of a DVD buyer.

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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby Hugh » 06 Jan 2013, 00:33

They are screwed. You only need to look at their share price.

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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby jude » 06 Jan 2013, 11:04

There's a big sale on their website already. I don't know if it's the same one that started at Christmas, but it appears to have been expanded and discounted. CDs from £2.00, DVDs from £2.99.
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the masked man
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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby the masked man » 06 Jan 2013, 11:20

The Peterborough HMV store has a surprisingly decent metal section, which is an anomaly, given that metal isn't overly popular in this small city. Meanwhile, up the road in Nottingham, which is traditionally a big metal stronghold, there's much smaller metal selection....which makes no sense at all.

This, I suspect, is part of the problem. Stock is controlled centrally from London, and every shop ends up with very similar stock; the chain has little feel for regional variations. Ultimately, the chain's only hope was to provide a better shopping experience for those who still want to buy physical music, but it couldn't do that well enough. The Fopp chain, which HMV owns, did a better job of this (more vinyl / dirt cheap CDs) , but the main chain couldn't learn lessons from its smaller cousin.

If the rumours Jethro mentions are true, I'll definitely visit the metal section to see what's on offer. As for the future, it will be interesting to see what happens to the rest of the bricks and mortar music market. Will Fopp find a new buyer (probable, I would have thought...), and will the handful of indie shops still left experience a surge in sales?

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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby trans-chigley express » 06 Jan 2013, 11:28

the masked man wrote: and will the handful of indie shops still left experience a surge in sales?


This will probably happen. In Hong Kong HMV's biggest rival chain is Hong Kong Records and they've had a better CD selection than HMV for years and are cheaper to boot. If HMV go they will certainly reap the benefits at least in the short term (although they need to improve their DVD section with their unnecessarily complex system that makes looking for the film you want a real chore).

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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby backwards7 » 06 Jan 2013, 11:34

I was in the flagship store on London, Oxford Street yesterday. Huge quantities of CDs in the A & B section of Rock and Pop were marked with giant blue cross stickers. It was reminiscent of when MVC and Zavvi went under. I'm guessing the remainder of the stock will be similarly marked-up before Monday.

I really like HMV. My local branch carries a respectable selection, I've had many good conversations with staff about music and have even bought things based on their recommendations. That said, the chain seems like a doomed venture and its death knell is likely to hasten the demise of the CD.

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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby Slugger » 06 Jan 2013, 11:44

I hope so. I didn't like the way I got treated when I was last in there. I hope that guy loses his job. He can always sell his Mac for food money...or just starve to death. He seems quite happy to leave African babies to die of starvation so what's so special about him that he shouldn't be left to the same fate if that's how things pan out for the guy?
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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 06 Jan 2013, 13:17

JQW wrote:I've seen reports tonight that HMV have been seen marking up their back catalogue stock in several stores with stickers carrying either blue or red stars.

Allegedly this is as part of a major sale starting soon where most catalogue stock will get discounted heavily.


So they put up prices just before they knock them down? or have I misunderstood?

I feel sad about this, as it's the last high street music shop to disappear altogether (Fopp doesn't count as they only have a handful of branches).

It doesn't deserve to survive, of course, but buying records and CDs was such a big part of my youth and I still like to pop in whenever I get the chance. It feels welcoming and it's still a pleasant experience to spend an hour or so browsing.

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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby Ranking Ted » 06 Jan 2013, 13:27

I guess this would affect Fopp as well, given HMV own them? Grim.

That would mean, excluding the shitfest you get in Tesco and the like (which one really must do), I think there'll be a handful of record shops in Glasgow and Edinburgh (none of which I particularly like) - a good hour away for me - and nothing else in between. Funnily enough, the HMVs in Perth and Stirling were really busy when I was in them during the Christmas holidays. Guess we'll see Waterstones go tits up in the next couple of years too.

Shopping online - something I've cut down on recently - has none of the enjoyment of random pick-ups from the retro or new music sections in Fopp. What a shame.

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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 06 Jan 2013, 13:43

Rank Bajin wrote:
That would mean, excluding the shitfest you get in Tesco and the like (which one really must do), I think there'll be a handful of record shops in Glasgow and Edinburgh (none of which I particularly like) - a good hour away for me - and nothing else in between. Funnily enough, the HMVs in Perth and Stirling were really busy when I was in them during the Christmas holidays. Guess we'll see Waterstones go tits up in the next couple of years too.


I can't see that happening as they attract a wider age-range, and people over 50 are less likely to stop visiting the high street and go online to order (altho' I suppose many do).

I dunno - I still think small independent vinyl/CD retailers, if they're run efficiently with an eye on the market and the other on customer demand, will survive. But only in big cities.

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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby GoogaMooga » 06 Jan 2013, 13:46

the bloke from Go West wrote:I dunno - I still think small independent vinyl/CD retailers, if they're run efficiently with an eye on the market and the other on customer demand, will survive. But only in big cities.


That's happening here, our chains and major stores (we never had a megastore) are gone, leaving small specialist shops and of course, most importantly, our three accord shops, legendary second hand shops established in 1947. Vinyl keeps accord afloat, but you can be lucky and find some oop cd's for a pittance.

HMV Oxford Street was the biggest and best in the world. But since I went online, I lost interest. Can't beat amazon's million range.
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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby Beebsy » 06 Jan 2013, 15:15

Rank Bajin wrote:
That would mean, excluding the shitfest you get in Tesco and the like (which one really must do), I think there'll be a handful of record shops in Glasgow and Edinburgh (none of which I particularly like) - a good hour away for me - and nothing else in between. Funnily enough, the HMVs in Perth and Stirling were really busy when I was in them during the Christmas holidays. Guess we'll see Waterstones go tits up in the next couple of years too.

Shopping online - something I've cut down on recently - has none of the enjoyment of random pick-ups from the retro or new music sections in Fopp. What a shame.


Same for me. If it goes, we won't have a record store in town at all. I like going in to actually look and browse. It was poor but at least it was there. To be honest though, after I browsed I would go home and buy what I wanted online.
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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby frimley_greener » 06 Jan 2013, 16:51

i must admit i popped into hmv in camberley(surrey) pre christmas just to browse for some stocking fillers,and to be fair,some of the ladies in the store fitted the bill adequately.sadly,the "audio" stock failed to measure up.and it did feel like an outlet in terminal decline.
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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby KeithPratt » 06 Jan 2013, 17:00

I've never had any real affection for HMV, although their classical department on Oxford Street was always well-stocked and seemed to be a world away from the garbage that you'd see on the main floor.

The reality is that the rise of intangible digital entertainment available at the touch of a button is far too compelling for 95% of the buying public and their business model was never going to compete with cloud-based services on devices and itunes/android etc. Young people won't buy music unless they absolutely have to - they'll stream it instead.

The model for physical entertainment stores in the future is providing collectible material that isn't available anywhere else. Like bookshops, they have to make the shop experience compelling enough to be more than a bargain hunt. It can work - places in Soho like Sounds of the Universe, Sister Ray and Phonica are all still in existence, thanks mostly to dance music culture where vinyl is still bought, but I do fear that outside of major cities entertainment shops will wither away.

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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby JQW » 06 Jan 2013, 22:31

I've read conflicting reports on another site today about this; some reported that the 25% reduction will start next weekend, whilst others seem to indicate that it's starting in some stores on Monday.
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. - Bertrand Russell

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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby The Dríver » 07 Jan 2013, 13:03

I was in the Reading branch yesterday. About a quarter of the floorspace is now given over to iPods and Apple stuff, and the focus is clearly on DVDs. There were a lot of heavily discounted DVD box sets, and indeed DVDs seem to have the majority of the floorspace. The CD section, particularly the rock and pop section, was about a quarter of what it was when I used to pop in there at lunchtimes six years ago.

The one thing that hasn't changed after all these years is that the divider with Gerry Rafferty's name on is still spelled 'Raferty' even though I pointed this out to the manager in 2006.
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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby funky_nomad » 07 Jan 2013, 13:11

Rank Bajin wrote:That would mean, excluding the shitfest you get in Tesco and the like (which one really must do), I think there'll be a handful of record shops in Glasgow and Edinburgh (none of which I particularly like)

Not even Mono??? Strange boy.

The revitalisation of Fopp (at least in Glasgow) after a rocky couple of years when HMV first bought it has been very welcome, and I suspect the Fopp brand is still viable, but where are they going to source their stock from? They're still pretty competitive for new stock, and are usually the first to drop prices after an album is no longer considered "new". Without the purchasing power of HMV behind them, I do fear for Fopp.
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Re: Last days for HMV?

Postby Ranking Ted » 07 Jan 2013, 18:45

funky_nomad wrote:Not even Mono??? Strange boy.

Never been there, a bit off the beaten track for me. Will give it a visit next time I'm in town with some time to kill. Used to be a half decent Mexican restaurant back in the day.


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