Is HMV still getting deliveries of new stock? If not, I imagine the stock of the Christmas releases must be getting quite low. I guess the catalogue stuff will be harder to sell.

 

We got some old stuff in and have also still got a lot of stock in the stockroom - Also we had the new releases by Villagers etc, - I think people will buy anything tbh just so they can use up their gift vouchers.

I really hope that my pre-order will get to me! I ordered the new Resident Evil movie for the special price of £6, and it's out next week, so hopefully i'll still get it.

Hilco has purchased the debts of HMV UK taking effective control of the group. They haven't 'officially' taken over the group as of yet but expect them to do so.

 

HMV has been saved!

We'll now wait to see how many stores go I suppose.

Digital Spy is reporting that all the UK stores will remain open :D.

 

EDIT: It says they're in 'detailed negotiations' to keep all the stores open, maybe not as promising :(.

Edited January 22, 201312 yr by ñïćk

They will close stores. Duplicate locations and loss making stores at the top of the hit list.

I really don't see how they can keep all stores open. HMV went bust for a reason - they weren't making any money. That's not going to change now. I hope this is more than a short term fix.

They didn't run into trouble just because they had too many stores. Their biggest problem was a lack of strategy. They need to decide what they want to sell and concentrate on doing it well.

 

That said, it wouldn't be a surprise if some stores do close. It will be a sad day if the Bournemouth store closes. Game and JJB sports were nearby so that part of town will look very empty if HMV go as well :(

Vouchers should be usable again, from tomorrow...

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-22...nistrators.html

 

If this proves correct, I suspect a big upsurge in sales, as people 'use them while they still can'...

 

PS, just noticed this article is dated yesterday, so they may be usable *now*?

Edited January 22, 201312 yr by vidcapper

Vouchers should be usable again, from tomorrow...

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-22...nistrators.html

 

If this proves correct, I suspect a big upsurge in sales, as people 'use them while they still can'...

 

From today I heard, Digital Spy reported it yesterday.

 

Hopefully my local store will be saved, really don't know what I'd do without it. :lol:

I was interested to see that some of the top 10 cds in Tescos were £11 when I looked last week. The days of low cost supermarket music seem to be coming to an end

They will close stores. Duplicate locations and loss making stores at the top of the hit list.

This. They can't afford (and never really could afford) to have duplicate stores (some literally a minute away from each other). They need to cut out their losses and work out a decent strategy.

This. They can't afford (and never really could afford) to have duplicate stores (some literally a minute away from each other). They need to cut out their losses and work out a decent strategy.

Exactly. I can see one of the Edinburgh stores closing. They have no need for two at opposite ends of the main street. The bigger one will suffice.

 

 

At this point in time cutting the expenses for the company will be the top priority. Stores that don't make any money will be gone first along side the duplicates so they can reduce their rent bills and staffing costs. Once they have streamlined then they can strategise and begin to rebuild with the core stores. Once they've found the formula that works they can start to expand to places they don't currently have locations again. Hilco have done rather well with HMV Canada and I can see them doing well with the UK chain too.

This is the same Hilco that wound up Woolworths I'm guessing...?

Exactly. I can see one of the Edinburgh stores closing. They have no need for two at opposite ends of the main street. The bigger one will suffice.

At this point in time cutting the expenses for the company will be the top priority. Stores that don't make any money will be gone first along side the duplicates so they can reduce their rent bills and staffing costs. Once they have streamlined then they can strategise and begin to rebuild with the core stores. Once they've found the formula that works they can start to expand to places they don't currently have locations again. Hilco have done rather well with HMV Canada and I can see them doing well with the UK chain too.

They should adopt Fopp's strategy of pricing, which I think they did but they should have tried that a bit earlier!

This is the same Hilco that wound up Woolworths I'm guessing...?

 

Not sure if they were linked to Woolworths but they seem to have had great recent success with companies they have bought out of administration and restructured especially HMV Canada which has grown like for like sales and market share and successfully launched an online MP3/Streaming store called 'The Vault'.

 

Also the reports are that they have paid 40 miilion to the banks for HMVs debts and with hardly any assets within HMV to sell off it makes me think that they will have a good go at making HMV a success just as they have with HMV Canada, And lets remember that despite all the negative news surrounding HMV the company still managed to have a sales turnover of 277 million last year and sell on average 500,000 CDs a week!

I'm off to Westfield Stratford tomorrow and I'll make a point of popping in to the branch there...what have discounts been like?

Not sure if they were linked to Woolworths but they seem to have had great recent success with companies they have bought out of administration and restructured especially HMV Canada which has grown like for like sales and market share and successfully launched an online MP3/Streaming store called 'The Vault'.

 

Also the reports are that they have paid 40 miilion to the banks for HMVs debts and with hardly any assets within HMV to sell off it makes me think that they will have a good go at making HMV a success just as they have with HMV Canada, And lets remember that despite all the negative news surrounding HMV the company still managed to have a sales turnover of 277 million last year and sell on average 500,000 CDs a week!

 

I can see the good side to all of this, but when Hilco joined forces with Deloitte in managing Woolworths, we as staff were told about how brilliant it was and that the company would be fine, etc. A month later we were out of work. It could very well turn out differently for HMV, and the two businesses had/have very different problems but I'm just saying that just because Hilco have stepped in, it doesn't necessarily mean everything's going to turn out fine.

I can see the good side to all of this, but when Hilco joined forces with Deloitte in managing Woolworths, we as staff were told about how brilliant it was and that the company would be fine, etc. A month later we were out of work. It could very well turn out differently for HMV, and the two businesses had/have very different problems but I'm just saying that just because Hilco have stepped in, it doesn't necessarily mean everything's going to turn out fine.

Woolies' problems were greater than HMV 's though. They had even less idea than HMV of what their purpose was any more. They had these massive stores in prominent (and, therefore, expensive) positions in the High Street but no real reason why anyone should go in. It should be easier for Hilco to come up with some sort of strategy for HMV as long as they don't assume the UK market is exactly the same as the Canadian market.

I can see the good side to all of this, but when Hilco joined forces with Deloitte in managing Woolworths, we as staff were told about how brilliant it was and that the company would be fine, etc. A month later we were out of work. It could very well turn out differently for HMV, and the two businesses had/have very different problems but I'm just saying that just because Hilco have stepped in, it doesn't necessarily mean everything's going to turn out fine.

 

Yes, but it was pretty obvious that Woolies was doomed/had no future whatsoever- I mean what was it's unique selling point? It had sadly become increasingly irrelevant.

 

HMV with the right management can still I think remain a success for many years.