Does Hmv Music Stores Have A Future ?

[LochNessMonster]

The company has appointed administrators to save its stores.

[yogi-bear]

Morning LNM, Ed and all

Very true, Ed about Amazon...... they really dont say what features are on what and specifications etc......very poor show indeed.

Sad news about HMV, which was on the cards if Christmas sales were not good, and have commented on Jenna's thread in "News".

Do hope they can get saved in some way and a sad day if they cant.

[AB Editor]

"There's already a book market under Waterloo Bridge."

I've been there (I think)! That was well stocked actually. If that kind of thing happened throughout the country in old sites of HMV that'd be grand.

I do see a lot of thriving shops getting rid of their dead-stock by renting a nearby unit to do a pop-up store.

"went into a HMV store fairly recently thought that I would have a browse through their Northern Soul section, they had two cd's and that was all ( and both of those were compilations )."

Compilations, best ofs and new releases from people you don't care about :)

[tonyav]

I can't see it yogi saved hope they do though.

[tonyav]

Yep, Ed.

[jno]

yeah but Ed, the costs of renting a stall under a bridge are minimal compared with renting a High St megastore or even part of a defunct one. (Possibly similar to those with maintaining a website, though? I really don't know.)

[yogi-bear]

Only a couple of weeks ago I was in the smaller branch of HMV in Western Road, Brighton, and talking to staff there, who said they wer closing that week as they feared the worst....the larger store only a short walk away, at The Churchill Square shopping mall was still to stay open and they wer transferring stock there.

They were quite down, upset and worried for their jobs and I hope it's that, which gets addressed first and foremost as it cant be easy on the staff of HMV to one day have a job and then to be told you havent. Hope they just get looked after, as they dont deserve what they are getting.

They are good people.

In respect to what you mentioned, Ed, about sections in store having little or hardly any stock of a particular style of music, It seems that some HMV stores had been utilising there space to fill it with countless gadgets, accessories, Ipads, second hand and new games and sale dvds and blu rays etc in order to try to sell as much as they can. Obviously the buying public have been getting these from sources that are far cheaper. Had HMV promised to price-match, as some retailers do, and if found cheaper elsewhere, would they be in trouble as they now are?

[yogi-bear]

Morning Tony,

I hope so too, mate. :0)

[tonyav]

Morning yogi, well you never know someone may step in and give it a go.

[whiskeryron]

It's all very well complaining that it's the fault of the public that all these high street shops are closing because we are buying on line, but let's be honest if you want a certain article & you find that it can be obtained on line for £5 less who in their right mind is going to say ''I will support the local shopkeeper in case he goes out of business''? We are human beings & show me anyone who does not like a bargain.

WR.

[yogi-bear]

I forgot to add that the pricing structure seemed mad on certain products.....my son wanted to get 'Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind' on DVD which he was to study at college, and found it there for £7.....its been out for years!
At best, it should be on sale for about £3

We picked it up, albeit second hand, but disc was fine ( if not and bit surfaced scratched, they clean it for free ) from a shop called CEX down the road.............price was just 50p.

[jno]

indeed, WR, even if they know the reason it's cheap is that the retailer doesn't pay tax so they'll have to make up the difference anyway.

[jno]

yogi, you can't expect shops to sell new goods - where they have to guarantee the quality - the same as second hand goods from a charity shop or wherever. (Charity shops can get their premises cheap and their staff free.)

Plus actual prices will depend on how many copies were manufactured. As of this minute, £4.75 seems to be still the lowest online price

http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/dvd/Confessions-of-a-Dangerous-Mind/1108273.htm

[AB Editor]

"It seems that some HMV stores had been utilising there space to fill it with countless gadgets, accessories, Ipads, second hand and new games and sale dvds and blu rays etc in order to try to sell as much as they can."

I thought this was the right way to go for them initially - I thought they might reposition themselves as the place you could get your gadgety-bits and get to try them first, a bit like John Lewis.

"'Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind' on DVD which he was to study at college, and found it there for £7.....its been out for years!
At best, it should be on sale for about £3"

Maybe £3 is an unrealistic expectation?

[yogi-bear]

Point taken but CEX is not a charity shop, jno. Its a store that sells new and secondhand goods and if the film was available sealed and new it would still be 50p....charity shops are not even in the equation.

My point is if its available for what you found it for online ( £4.74 ) maybe HMV could have checked on stock take days and sold it for, say, £4.00.


I gotta go to work and play some tunes, some of which were bought from HMV as it goes. Have a good 'un jno and all

[yogi-bear]

I thought so too, Ed, iniatially, but what with Curry's/Dixons, Comet, ( who were at the time still afloat ), Richer Sounds, and the much larger supermarkets with huge displays of electrical equipment doing the same, the competition was out there. It seemed to be about pricing and that is where it maybe was flawed.

Gotta go....Have a brilliant day, Ed :0)