Looks Like Sunrise / HMV are taking over the remnants of FYE including Secondspin

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Antenociticus, Feb 7, 2020.

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  1. Antenociticus

    Antenociticus Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Earlier this week I was working in North Carolina and visited Manifest Discs in Charlotte. A store I highly recommend BTW.
    In talkingwith the guys at the desk, I was told that the store was being taken over by HMV. As an expat Brit I'm obviously very familiar with HMV and their recent tribulations.
    I did a little Googling and found this

    HMV owner Sunrise buys US retail chain FYE

    The story backs up what I was told: it looks like Sunrise are making a play for worldwide domination. While I'm obviously glad to see stores and jobs saved, it does seem like a monopoly is being set up here.
     
    ispace likes this.
  2. cdash99

    cdash99 Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Have their efforts been successful in Canada and UK, or are they achieving worldwide domination over a market the size of an ant farm?
     
  3. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    They have my sympathy.
     
  4. Rigoberto

    Rigoberto Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA (UT)
    So is this the end of TWEC then, or do they have other stores?
     
  5. Defdum&blind

    Defdum&blind Forum Resident

    Sunrise took over an HMV location in a large mall here in Mississauga (just west of Toronto) but closed it down. The couple of times I was there the store was nearly empty of customers. I am primarily a record buyer and oddly for a Sunrise outlet there wasn't as much vinyl and left empty handed. That was first for me. It's now a video arcade.

    I have not been to any of the other Sunrise locations in some time so I can't comment on selection and the amount of customers.
     
  6. Rigoberto

    Rigoberto Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA (UT)
    Looks like SecondSpin is winding down.

    [​IMG]
     
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  7. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    They got buried by the "sharps". I wonder if they will bulk them off including the couple hundred thousand duffers?
     
  8. ispace

    ispace Senior Member

    Location:
    Sydney Australia
    What does this mean?
     
  9. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    can FYE gift cards still be used?
     
  10. noname74

    noname74 Allegedly Canadian

    Location:
    .
    The Sunrises in malls in my city always have customers in it. They seem to be doing quite well.
     
  11. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    "Sharps" were people like me that gave them unsellable CD's by the thousands because their computers said "buy them for $1-$6". "Sharps" are smart gamblers in Las Vegas or at the track. Old New York term.
     
  12. CraigVC

    CraigVC Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Now SecondSpin are running an "inventory reduction" 25% off sale. I checked my "personal favorites" list to see what was in stock, and grabbed a few items that -- if they're not completely destroyed, or completely the wrong edition, which is the case about half the time -- would be a for less than the lowest prices currently listed on Discogs for the titles I ordered.

    That's been the most frustrating part about SecondSpin. If you receive the correct item (based on UPC code) and it's in "good" or better condition, you've gotten a good deal. Otherwise you deal with the hassles of requesting an RMA and returning it.

    It seems that some unscrupulous sellers were taking advantage of SecondSpin by selling lower-value club editions or other early editions without UPC codes, to SecondSpin on the pretense that it was some much-higher-value "collectible" edition (e.g., SACD or Gold CD). The unlucky buyer of those wrong versions becomes the victim, along with SecondSpin which got ripped off as well.

    For gold CDs with "lift-lock" cases, mostly DCC gold CDs and MFSL gold CDs, the destroyed CDs were often tragic.... It appears that folks at SecondSpin may have been mis-handling those lift-lock cases when they were inspecting the CDs after buying them, resulting in the discs becoming seriously cracked and damaged at the inner hub area. I returned so many of those damaged/destroyed discs for refunds, and wept at realizing another limited edition, out-of-print gold CD was being taken out of circulation and probably thrown away. :-(
     
  13. Rigoberto

    Rigoberto Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA (UT)
    You're right. I received a Neil Young gold CD that was broken in half. And I bought several club editions of Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits that were listed as DCC versions, all of which I had to send back.

    As for the Steve Miller title I finally gave in and paid $100 for one from Acoustic Sounds. At least I got a slipcover with it, and 100% mint condition.

    I did successfully purchase a DCC Jethro Tull Original Masters from them, with slip cover, for next to nothing. Something like $7.99. So not all my experiences were negative.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2020
  14. melstapler

    melstapler Reissue Activist

    Very interesting. Having visited Sunrise store locations in Canada on several occasions, I'm interested to see what direction they'll take with FYE in the U.S. In recent years, I've mostly frequented the FYE stores for collectibles because they have incredible sales and their new and used CD sections have been dwindling. Although FYE did increase their inventory of vinyl, I found very little interest in the mainstream rock titles which seem to be their main focus for that format.

    As for secondspin, it got to the point where buying CDs from that site was like gambling. One title would be sold as used and then arrive sealed/new/mint while another title would be sold as used and then arrive in unplayable condition.

    Hopefully Sunrise in the states will stock a large selection of collectibles while improving the shopping experience for CD and vinyl both online and in the stores.
     
  15. melstapler

    melstapler Reissue Activist

  16. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    If CD's come back like vinyl, they'll sure have enough.
     
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