HMV is amazing - the one main music store we have here. I do hope they can turn things around and improve.

They are blaming the weather but is it really down to other factors:-

 

1. CDs and DVDs arent essential items and during as recession, maybe people are cutting back

2. Impact of illegal downloading

3. You can buy virtually any song on itunes so why bother going to your local HMV when its often cheaper to download

4. Competition from other internet sellers who are often cheaper such as cdwow

 

It will be a shame if HMV goes and becomes an online service as effectively its the last major highstreet music store

It doesn't surprise me really. The internet is perfect for music. Infact in a lot of cases, you can pre-order a cd and you'll get it in the post before it even comes out in the shops. And it's usually cheaper online and you don't need to make a special trip just for a cd. HMV will probably go bust soon.

 

Makes you realise how much we were being ripped off a few years ago when a new album was £14.99 in the shops.

That's probably helping to compound the problem. There must be many people who decide to wait for albums to be on special offer rather than buying them when they're released.

 

I am ashamed unashamed to admit freely that I am one of these sods. I always used to find that I'd buy an album at full price and 2 weeks later there'd either be a special edition or it would be down to £4.99 in a sale. So now I take pre-emptive action to avoid disappointment.

If the one near me closes it will be a absolute HELL to buy any kind of CD. In my local high street there is no where to buy any CD's so I have to go to the local Shopping Mall where theres a HMV. After that I have to travel a good 40 minutes to buy a CD. <_<

HMV prices a reasonable for top 40 and 'big' albums but if I want the new album by someone like Die So Fluid, Eighties Matchbox, or Slayer then it's usually about £13 yet I can wander into my local independent record shop and pick it up for less than a tenner. Same goes for any foreign language or lesser known movie. They can't compete with the supermarkets or net sites with the big releases so they charge over the odds for the minor ones thereby driving away even more customers who regularly buy albums from the other thousands of acts/filmamkers not having hits.

Beginning of the end for HMV as a high street retailer? They could have blossomed if they had got it right after the demise of Woolworths and Zavvi however they seemed to think this would give them market dominance and they didn't need to be competitive - There is a HMV near me and just down the road is a Tesco Extra - Tesco are usually £3-4 cheaper on CDs, £5+ cheaper on DVDs and £10+ cheaper on Games so no wonder why HMV are going to the wall.

 

Also why on earth would anyone want to shop in a HMV store and pay £12.99 for a CD when their own website is offering the same product for £7 with free delivery!

We don't have a HMV in our town... or even one that near. The nearest one is Bath. The only places to buy chart albums here are Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys. Though these three places are still quite expensive... Rihanna's album is £10.45 in both Tesco and Asda, but is only £9.99 in our year old Sainsburys.

 

But I enjoy HMV shopping when in Bath - it has 3 floors! The Waterstones there also has 3 floors.

In reality though HMV could easily lose 60 stores without much impact - They have 2 stores on Oxford Street, 2 in the Bluewater shopping centre etc, - Some of their stores are so close together in central London its ridiculous!

There's been 2 of them in Peterborough ever since one took over when Zavvi closed down, and while there do seem to be slight differences in what they have in stock, I'd imagine 1 of these will go. Just hope both of them don't go!

As long as they don't close my local one... 150 Oxford Street, I'll be happy.

 

I dunno what I'd do without Monday shopping there :)

I haven't been in an HMV for a year now, since a combination of me joining the downloading bandwagon, getting a much busier life and HMV drastically cutting their selection of singles by no longer stocking 7" singles (I'm mystified by the comment further up that someone here buys 7" singles at HMV as I was told by a colleague of my local branch that it was no longer HMV's company policy to stock 7" singles in stores, only to place orders online for customer's enquiring about specific discs) and in particular only stocking cd singles from the Syco label because Syco kindly gave them a branded fixture to cross merchandise their (and only their!) singles with their albums and related books etc. I only bought singles from HMV or else stuff very cheap in sales so it'll be no loss to me if they go bust, except for one thing. I seem to recall that before Woolworths went bust their distribution company supplied half the cd and dvd needs of the industry (Woolies and several supermarkets) and that HMV's distribution supplied the rest (HMV, Zavvi and the other supermarkets), so with Woolies long gone I presume the same (HMV owned?) distribution supplies everyone (Not sure about WHSmiths who were allegedy pulling out of the entertainment market sometime soon too). So if HMV goes bust then we could see the total extinction of any physical entertainment products!

Incidentally I'm expecting to hear that WHSmith are struggling too. As I understand it, they only stay afloat due to the subsudues they get from the Post Office for the instore Post Office counters, and it's not as if the Post Office/Royal Mail is doing terribly well either.

We had two HMVs in our town before I left in August. When I came back, they had solo one of them to a new independent music store called 'Head Music,' (whose name I adore for obvious reasons) which has a much bigger stock of CDs and vinyl than our HMV does. I can't see it lasting beyond a year, but it's nice to see new indie stores entering the market.

As many have already said they have priced themselves out of the market. I never buy albums from HMV anymore because they just cost too much. Whether you agree or disagree with the likes of Asda or Tesco you can't argue with Rihanna's new album for £7.97 (pre xmas week). I mean HMV chart albums are always £10 at least. I go and check my asda every week as they always have 2 or 3 chart albums for £6 each week.

 

It isn't exactly just music, their dvd boxsets are terrible in price and as someone said earlier they aren't even consistent in price, the same boxset can have 2 or 3 copies instore and them be different prices lol

 

Old albums are the worst, go online and find them for 4 or 5 quid, go in HMV they are 12 to 16 pound. I still haven't got the deluxe tori amos midwinter graces album (extra dvd) it was 22 pound in my HMV, forget that it was 12 online.

We had two HMVs in our town before I left in August. When I came back, they had solo one of them to a new independent music store called 'Head Music,' (whose name I adore for obvious reasons) which has a much bigger stock of CDs and vinyl than our HMV does. I can't see it lasting beyond a year, but it's nice to see new indie stores entering the market.

What an excellent name :D

As many have already said they have priced themselves out of the market. I never buy albums from HMV anymore because they just cost too much. Whether you agree or disagree with the likes of Asda or Tesco you can't argue with Rihanna's new album for £7.97 (pre xmas week). I mean HMV chart albums are always £10 at least. I go and check my asda every week as they always have 2 or 3 chart albums for £6 each week.

 

It isn't exactly just music, their dvd boxsets are terrible in price and as someone said earlier they aren't even consistent in price, the same boxset can have 2 or 3 copies instore and them be different prices lol

 

Old albums are the worst, go online and find them for 4 or 5 quid, go in HMV they are 12 to 16 pound. I still haven't got the deluxe tori amos midwinter graces album (extra dvd) it was 22 pound in my HMV, forget that it was 12 online.

But they haven't priced themselves out of the market. As Mark has said, CDs are a lot cheaper than they were five or ten years ago. They are just being undercut by supermarkets who can afford to sell a limited range at little or no profit.

But they haven't priced themselves out of the market. As Mark has said, CDs are a lot cheaper than they were five or ten years ago. They are just being undercut by supermarkets who can afford to sell a limited range at little or no profit.

 

HMV are too expensive, online and supermarkets sell things cheaper and if they can't compete with that then tough. there is no point blaming tesco for bringing you a product cheaper lol

 

just because they are HMV the music store doesn't mean they should be supported when you can get the exact same product cheaper elsewhere or online. albums sales are going down everywhere, it is thanks to stores like tesco and asda then haven't plummeted futher as they are bringing albums to huge numbers of people at cheaper prices.

 

 

I'm more gutted about the thought of losing my local Waterstones :( There is nowhere else in Stirling to get the sort of books I buy.

HMV will be a major loss too, since Zaavi closed there is only HMV in the town centre or Tesco.

 

 

Does Stirling have a Waterstones? I go to University in Stirling and didn't even realise :w00t:

 

I worked in HMV last Christmas & the managers were saying this may happen, but the one I worked in (There's three in Glasgow City Centre) was the 5th biggest HMV on Xmas Eve, this year & last, so I've been told it's safe, although I'd hate to see the Buchanan St one go as it's the 2nd or 3rd biggest one in UK, and then the small one has been there for about 10000 years and I don't want that to go either :(

 

 

I used to feel bad for people buying CD's that clearly were so much cheaper online. Also, Fopp! is actually really cheap a lot of the time, or maybe it's just the one I go to :unsure:

I agree with some of the points made, but I'd be GUTTED if HMV close. There was a report at the tail end of last year saying that they could be the next Woolworths.

 

Yes, the catalogue product instore is ridiculously priced in some cases (it always has been), but they really are competing well on chart/new releases in store and the 2 for £10 deals are great.

 

I can't imagine going into the city centre or to a shopping centre and not visiting HMV. It's just great to browse through their stuff, and it's worth an extra pound or two to do that.

 

We cannot rely on supermarkets for our CD's. The amount of shelf space given to CD's has shrunk in the last year or so, and it will continue to do so if demand falls. Supermarkets are understandably ruthless when it comes to this. No retailer can compete with a £7-£8 price tag on a chart CD, but the supermarkets will make a loss on that item to get you in store in the hope that you buy other items while you are in. I cannot fault HMV for not matching these prices when it is a core part of their business.

 

In my opinion, one of the biggest problems last year for CD sales was that the release schedule was very poor. Take That show that the potential is still there for a big new album, but it was a fairly uninspiring year. Downloading is obviously an issue too, but if there isn't good product in store then people won't buy CD's.

 

Here's hoping that HMV can pull through.

I worked in HMV last Christmas & the managers were saying this may happen, but the one I worked in (There's three in Glasgow City Centre) was the 5th biggest HMV on Xmas Eve, this year & last, so I've been told it's safe, although I'd hate to see the Buchanan St one go as it's the 2nd or 3rd biggest one in UK, and then the small one has been there for about 10000 years and I don't want that to go either :(

 

I immediately thought of the three stores in Glasgow City Centre when I read the MW article. They are all within 10-15 mins walk of each other. I only ever visit the Argyle Street store so I'm glad to hear that there's a good chance that it won't be affected. It will be sad to see any of them go though.

 

I used to work part time in the Virgin store on Argyle Street right next door to HMV. This was in 1988/9 and who would have thought then, with 2 huge music stores surviving side by side, that there was possibly a time when a city centre wouldn't have a big music store! Hopefully that's still a long time away!