Looks like HMV in the UK may survive after all...

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Sound of the Suburbs, Feb 3, 2019.

  1. shanebrown

    shanebrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    It is currently being revamped and apparently up and running again in a few weeks.
     
  2. shanebrown

    shanebrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    The Oxford Street store was something of a mess in recent years, sadly. My guess is that we will see DVDs relegated to less prominent parts of the store in the revamped shops, as it seems that of all physical media they are being hit hardest in the UK, followed by chart CDs, but with still strong sales of blu-rays and niche CDs.

    The HMV next door to me (my flat is in a great position!) seems to be full of T-shirts and strange little model/figure things at the moment, neither of which I remember taking up as much floor space as before. I'm assuming they are filling up so much space right now as shelves need to be restocked, but I haven't heard what the new owner plans to do regarding these kinds of things. I can't imagine those pop figures will be kept given where his interests seem to lie.
     
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  3. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    I wish they'd clear all that crap out to the nearest landfill.
     
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  4. shanebrown

    shanebrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    Yes, those types of things are all over HMV at the moment. No idea what they are - but they weren't as prominent until the administration so I'm guessing it's just filling up shelf space.
     
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  5. Gavaxeman

    Gavaxeman Take me back to dear old Blighty...

    Location:
    West Midlands U.K.
    Hoping they resurrect the pure points and card
     
  6. shanebrown

    shanebrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    To be honest, I'm hoping they eventually move to a better system. It takes one hell of a lot of spending to get anything of any worth. Even with my spending habits it takes me about six months to get a tenner back. If they want a loyalty card system that actually lures people in they have to do better than that.
     
    Pouchkine likes this.
  7. G00dVibrations

    G00dVibrations Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
  8. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    Sunrise in Canada do not have an online store.
     
  9. Pop_Zeus

    Pop_Zeus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southport, UK
    Went into Blackpool HMV today. I’ve always found it to have a decent selection of catalogue stuff and new releases, well especially when the upstairs was open. Didn’t find any of the new releases I wanted. Hope things start to pick up now in terms of getting new releases in.
     
    coffeetime likes this.
  10. davebush

    davebush New Test Leper

    Location:
    Fonthill, ON
    I was quite happy when my local Sunrise rose from the ashes of HMV, but I honestly don't see how it can survive. We just don't have enough hipsters willing to pay $35.oo for a 180 gram copy of Purple Rain.
     
  11. shanebrown

    shanebrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    It's running at a profit apparently. There's more to it than just stocking vinyl, though. From what I can gather, the business format is to appeal to the people who still physical product rather than trying to lure in people who don't. That means stocking less chart material than before, and more niche areas - which is what he is promising for the UK.
     
  12. shanebrown

    shanebrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    It's going to take more than a couple of days to get 100 shops re-stocked. You can't expect miracles in less than a week.
     
    LivingForever likes this.
  13. shanebrown

    shanebrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    HMV in the UK will retain theirs. From the Guardian newspaper:

    "HMV’s online store is currently shut down while it is being revamped, but Putman says he hopes it will reopen in the next few weeks. He wants to add services such as the ability to check if a certain title is in a particular store in future."
     
    Eric_Generic likes this.
  14. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    My local HMV was already quite niche as they were stocking Throbbing Gristle and Swans. Admittedly, it was the CD section. The vinyl selection was pretty lame.
     
    Pop_Zeus likes this.
  15. Pop_Zeus

    Pop_Zeus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southport, UK
    I appreciate this, but on the last page there were signs that new releases were in stock so i was hopeful
     
  16. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Of course, it might be because the vinyl section was very small. I think they had a better selection of titles in the Derby store. Even Ayr's was much larger.
     
  17. Django

    Django Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Good. I am glad. .. But it's probably more a stay of execution or clemency.
    If Joe public no longer wants to or has to buy physical media & that's your business, well you're in trouble.
     
  18. shanebrown

    shanebrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    Your suggestion is that nowhere can survive when it is no longer the mainstream. There were around 35 million CD sales last year in the UK. And 4 million vinyl sales. That's nearly 40 million products being sold. Are you trying to tell us that, handled correctly, revenue of £382m from physical sales of CDs and vinyl can't keep one music retailer on the high street?

    As has been said many times, this idea that Joe Public no longer wants physical media is vastly exaggerated. SOMEONE is buying those CDs
     
  19. Django

    Django Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    What happened to all the other big brand chain shops?
     
  20. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    They closed and were mostly poor. It leaves HMV with a unique position in the marketplace. A lot of people still buy music regardless of what you think. HMV won't last forever, but many people around my age (44) are still buying and that could potentially give them 20+ years of sales. Who knows how the market is going to shape up? I doubt many predicted supermarkets selling vinyl 15 years ago. HMV needs to have an intelligent rethink and target the diehard collectors. There's plenty of us out there, HMV now needs to attract us away from Amazon etc and into the stores.
     
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  21. shanebrown

    shanebrown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    Yes . It has to be the collectors and, for want of a better term, intelligent film watchers - and by that I mean older, classic,independent, and foreign language you DON'T find on the main streaming services, and special editions etc. There is an assumption that shops have to appeal to everyone - and yet it is shops that tried to do this that have gone or in trouble : Woolworths, bhs, Littlewoods, house of Fraser, Debenhams.

    The survivors of the high street will be shops that know their market and target their customers. Hmv hasn't really been doing that. Is it a music shop or a merchandise shop? Or maybe an electricals shop? It has to start to focus on what it can do best. And I don't think that is a whole wall of t-shirts, or rows of plastic figures.
     
  22. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    HMV doesn't have the market to themselves. They are competing with Amazon, supermarkets, and independent retailers. Let's say they sell half those products, which is over optimistic, then that's less than £2 million sales per location. If they are making a third on each item, then you can see their problems as rents snd rates may exceed £5,000 per month in some locations. Factor in the staffing costs and it's easy to see why they went into administration.
     
    Man at C&A likes this.
  23. Django

    Django Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland

    “A lot of people still buy music regardless of what you think”

    I am the same age & still buy music, the majority of it from shops. I make a point of supporting the few remaining indies in Dublin. I go out of my way to do it, mainly due to habit, (I love music shops) & because I want them to be there. As we all know the music retail market has been turned on its head. The chain music retailers thrived in the past because if the average punter wanted to hear their favourite songs & watch films at home ect…they had to go and buy them. And they mainly went to the big chain stores. They don’t have to do this anymore. Most of them forgot about CDs & DVDs & have no romanticized notions about them. Obviously that’s why most of the chain shops are extinct. They need to be hitting big sales figures to survive. HMV will probably have to shrink down to the size of a slightly larger indie with only a handful of locations.

    I actually worked in a HMV for a short time in the mid 90’s.
     
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  24. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Sorry, that read awfully from me! I typed it while very tired and probably misunderstood where you were coming from. I apologise.

    I do agree that HMV needs to downsize to succeed. The idea of a megastore selling mostly music sadly now belongs firmly in the past. I can see that lower rent smaller shops in each major town / city could be better, but then they're going to drive away the indie shops if they are too similar, but with a more familiar brand and well advertised, which I don't think is what any of us want.

    I worked for HMV for a short while too, to be honest I didn't enjoy it.
     
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  25. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    That is a story not altogether related to music sales. Virgin became Zavvi that relied on Woolworth for supply. So 2008 crash did for both. Our Price was destroyed by an asset stripper. Other smaller chains that folded didn't embrace vinyl fully and lost out to Amazon etc. Also escalating business rates and rent were a major factor. Zavvi brand was revived as an online store by Hut Group. Most people go online not only for convenience but lack of local stores. Stores also need to compete on price with Amazon which these days is not so difficult.
     
    Eric_Generic likes this.

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