Popped into HMV today...

I'm guessing they rented the Shrewsbury store and the landlord put up the rent when the lease came up for renewal. Sometimes you have to compromise and take a smaller unit rather than leave the town or pay extortionate rent.

 

To be honest, Burton like many towns have been suffering for a number of years. There used to be a Virgin store in Cooper Square. And there was a Music Zone store in the Octagon centre. Both of these chains have gone. There is a That's Entertainment store in the Octagon centre (it has moved quite a bit, as it used to be on Station Street and then in Cooper Square; it has even moved within the Octagon centre). That's Entertainment is now owned by Music Magpie, and the chain is a shadow of its former self, with around 30 outlets left. There is still an independent record store, Henry's Records, on Station Street near the railway station. Losing HMV was a big blow, but it is a sign of the times.

 

My local HMV (just re-opened a couple of months ago) has the Led Zeppelin vinyl reissues for £14.99 a pop - pretty good for a bricks and mortar store and a tantalising offer when I consider my crackly original of IV...

 

Sorry to hear that (wrt HMVs in Canada). In 2013, I went to the HMV in Montreal (Canada). I remember it was about a two block walk south from my hotel and that it was open until 11 PM. That was great because I could go and browse by myself, as my son would go to sleep at 9 PM while my wife stayed with him.

This past August I was at the HMV in London UK (the one on Oxford Street, in case there are multiple ones there), and I would say that while there was a lot of vinyl, there were more CDs than vinyl. I'm wondering if the earlier commenter visited all the levels. The upper level was all CDs.

 

The Sainsbury near Earl's Court in London UK was not selling vinyl in August when I stayed near it.

 

It is indeed a Sign O Times.. apparently Charity Shops, Hand Car Washes and Barber Shops.. and don't forget the cheap KFC style eateries idk? Once Car back on road might have to take some monthly trips to HMV in Derby, seems they still have one. Used be a Great little Town..but it's got Dirtier and more unfriendly (for want better words/description) just don't feel like the Town I grew up in anymore..

 

There's Sainsbury's Local and Sainsbury's Superstore - Earl's Court has both but only the latter variant sell vinyl (the former is just a convenience store).

 

They’ve moved HMV in Derby. It’s now buried in one of those hideous shopping ‘malls’. Can’t remember the name of it now, but it’s not far from where the store used to be situated.

 

Sainsburys and Tesco have several types of stores, i dont quite know the names, nor do i quite understand why some stores stock vinyl and some don't (its not always down to size of store.) I'm lucky that my own local store (which is fairly small.) stocks vinyl and the special editions. I picked up the Madonna True Blue, Like A Prayer and Ray of Light coloured vinyl, also Tull's Aqualung coloured vinyl, Trainspotting double vinyl soundtrack, again coloured. Quite taken with the quality of these special editions. I passed on the others they had, okay, mainly coloured vinyl but still reasonably plentiful. Pretty Things, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, etc.

To be fair i'm more likely to buy from there than HMV, again down to price. The stock is limited but reasonably priced. Obviously going for the dad market in a big way whenever its Fathers Day or suchlike. Always have plenty of Pink Floyd or Beatles in stock.

I think the store manager should recruit me (part-time) to tell them what stock they should get in so they can be more profitable

 

Very little will get me back into HMV currently. If they started selling used CDs (proper 80's issues) that would pull ne in again.

 

Although I rarely bought from them (a few Blu rays here and there), I miss browsing in our HMV in Canada!

 

It's called intu. It used to be Westfields, and before that, the Eagle centre. If I remember correctly, HMV in Derby used to be on the corner of East Street and Albion Street, not far from one of the entrances to the shopping centre. There used to be a Virgin Megastore opposite on Albion Street. I think that Virgin store eventually became a That's Entertainment store.

 

I also don't understand the choice of stores selling vinyl. Apparently, the Sainsburys store at Osmaston Park, Derby sells vinyl. I may pop in as I'm in the area just before Christmas.

 

I visited my local HMV hoping to buy a few things (inc latest issues from Christy Moore, Richard Thompson etc.) I had to come away empty handed as they had nothing I wanted in stock. They too have moved into a much smaller shop. There were more people browsing than buying. It doesn't bode well.

A £99 purchase from Amazon fulfilled my wants. A shame as I miss visiting bricks and mortar stores.

 

I am surprised to read so many positive comments about HMV . Maybe not the prices but the experience of visiting such a store.
Maybe I am lucky to be in London, but I would never consider entering a big store like HMV (or Fopp). I much prefer the shopping experience of little independent stores. They often have a mix of new and second hand. They may not buy and sell as much product but they can specialise in different genres and have a deeper understanding of the music they sell. Even buying online is a more satisfying experience then wasting time in a big store.
The likes of HMV lost their way when independent music exploded in the late 70's. In the 80's and 90's the big stores became like supermarkets stocking huge amounts of bland records and later CD's. No wonder the internet killed them. Now they are selling records because the sale graphs and statistics show an upwords trend.
Should we now support them? Personally I don't believe that they know what they are doing. They just stack up the shelf with a lot of product but like in the past they still have no knowledge of the music they are selling. Independent shops can succeed and Rough Trade have proven that they can become big and stay focussed offering great stock of music as well as books, live shows, special editions and other cultural events.

 

I quite like HMV, the one in Birmingham have a really good range but some of the prices are a touch steep to be fair.

For anyone visiting the city centre, then I highly recommend Ignite in the Oasis market, he has a fantastic range for an indie shop and knows his stuff

 

Agree, totally.
Went into a HMV[ Cardiff South Wales] during our summer vacation in the UK , awful place ,biggie selling on whatever is popular in rap .dance and pop but found wanting in niche categories outside of the popular titles .The staff were very surly and unhelpful when I asked if they had any headphone stands left!
By the same token I went into the 'World famous Spillers record store in Cardiff South Wales and was not greeted, tweeted or in any way recognized as a customer despite being the only customer in the store , my one question was met with 'If it is not on the counter we do not have it '
These days my nearest record stores are over hundred miles away ,Tampa and Orlando.
I save money on impulse buys but wish I could go out on a Saturday morning and buy those recordings I have read about in the HiFi mags , Mojo ect .

 

The 40th Anniversary All Things Must Pass is really expensive everywhere. Not sure why. Gilmour's Live at Pompeii is a four-record set, and is less expensive, though it's still not cheap!

The New York City HMV was the first of the big record stores to vanish in the city -- in 2004 or '05. Virgin and Tower were still going.

 

WRT to visiting the HMV in London --- note that I have a US location and I am visiting as a tourist. I don't have time to hunt out independent stores, especially with a 9 year old as we had with us last August.

My MO when I am there is to get CDs by British artists that are not available in the US, or are hard to find over here in the US.

As you might have seen from the comments of other US posters, stores like HMV are very rare in the US nowadays. Many of the US stores (e.g., Best Buy) that used to have somewhat decent CD selections now have a barebones selection.

 

Can't speak about HMV in the 80s and 90s (the best I could visit at that time was a small Our Price>Virgin shop, which was rubbish), but that wasn't my experience of HMV in Newcastle in the early 2000s. They would pile up the volume sellers near the front door, but they had a huge range - enormous amount of CD albums on ground floor, vinyl and CD singles downstairs, DVDs, VHS and classical/jazz/blues CDs upstairs. Combine that shop with the indie Steel Wheels, and I was in heaven.

The building where HMV used to be is now a 24 hour gym

Steel Wheels still exists though

There was also a very big Virgin Megastore, but it seemed to be the doing what you accuse HMV of doing - little range, high volune. Comparatively rubbish. That died too, of course.

 

Nice post. Ontario had London Drugs a number of years before Vancouver (where I grew up did) . I remember what a big deal it was when the first location opened, at Broadway near Cambie. I bought a number of nice records there.

 

Yes, I remember when the precinct was called Westfields, but couldn't recall the new name. To be honest, I don't go to Derby that much. IIRC, I started going when Virgin opened all those years ago... At the time, it was the best record shop I'd ever seen.

I went in the That's Entertainment shop when I was there about 3 weeks ago. Got 5 CDs. You have to check everything though as some things in there clearly shouldn't be on sale.

 

Let's be honest, intu is very forgettable. I preferred it when the shopping centre was called the Eagle centre. Mind you, it was around the change to Westfields that Reveal Records closed, so I may have bad memories. In fact, everything seemed to go downhill once Westfields opened. It appeared to have sucked in business from everywhere else.

Yes, I know about That's Entertainment. There's a worse for wear Japan for US copy of George Benson's While the City Sleeps is on their shelves, or at least it was when I left it. The French target No Jacket Required disappeared home with me.

TBH, I never looked at the vinyl in HMV because I knew it would be too expensive.

 

I loved record shopping in the early to mid 80's in Birmingham.
Spent most my time at Reddingtons Rare Records, now sadly gone.
Much prefer the small independent shops....but popped in HMV basically because I was early for my Opticians appointment.
Oh and another thing....loads of, err, cheap turntables too.....mainly your Crowley suitcase bumph, and a few mascurading as half decent.
Amazing how many people were checking them out!!!

 

Used to be a Record Shop round corner from Richer Sounds in Brum, can't remember name, mainly DJ Records..