So, Piccadily and New York Times Sq to close.....

 

They really ARE fukked, there's just no getting away from it......

Cambridge is going. :o Damn.

Well, at the end of the day, the place in Camden of which I speak is more a "specialist" place.... ie, a lot of the stuff they sell you aint even gonna see in HMV or Zavvi..... :lol: And, funny you should mention price, the more specialised stuff that HMV and Zavvi sell in the Metal section is a total rip-off..... I've seen Metal CDs being sold in HMV and Zavvi for about 17 or 18 quid.. SERIOUSLY..... My little specialist place has the very same Metal CDs for about 12 quid.... Indeed, price is king mate..... :P :lol:

 

So, er, it's a no-brainer for me I'm afraid.... Fukk HMV and Zavvi..... They're sh!te, they rip off fans of specialist music, and their staff are utter fukkin' drongoes who wouldn't know Girls Aloud from Gorgoroth..... :lol:

 

Agreed, Indie stores all the way in my opinon, althoguh record collecting is a dying art (the last record fair i went too was depressing) Indie stores that either specialise in new stuff or older stuff are much better than going to HMV or Zavvi, i perfer the ones that leer more towards the vinyl side of music too. You can find some really good stuff in those sort of stores too.

Yep, Picadilly is closing. It's been crap since since a couple of years before it became Zavvi, but it's still a major landmark that will be going.

 

Agreed... It was great when it was Tower Records, absolutely brilliant store it was.... When Virgin bought it, it started going downhill, but Zavvi just made the store's decline even worse...... <_<

 

 

Neither of mine (I live in two places) have closed yet! That kind of strikes me as odd because the one in my hometown isn't exactly huge... though it is usually quite busy.

I used to go to Tower Records in London - great place!

 

I think it is very sad for the music indusrty and the High Street that Zavvi looks like going completely - the more shops the more competition - although I agree that Zavvi have always been over-priced and abit of a dump!

Neither of mine (I live in two places) have closed yet! That kind of strikes me as odd because the one in my hometown isn't exactly huge... though it is usually quite busy.

 

They're also looking at overheads bear in mind Slick.... To operate the stores in Times Square and Piccadilly, the running costs will be huge, much more so than smaller provincial stores, and I guess they chose Oxford St over Piccadilly in order to keep one going in Central London...... Mind you, these are Flagship stores we're talking about... It tends to spell trouble regardless.....

 

I just wonder how long it'll be before Oxford St closes down

 

Tbh though, in a few years time, the music market will be dead. Artists will be releasing their music by giving it away for free, it's already been known for the past few years that artists and record companies aren't actually making much money from album sales. It's all about touring. So I don't think it really will matter in the longterm whether the physical market lasts or not.

 

 

Oh, and I like Zavvi. :D Even though (as with HMV) some of it's prices did get a bit ridiculous at times.

I used to go to Tower Records in London - great place!

 

I think it is very sad for the music indusrty and the High Street that Zavvi looks like going completely - the more shops the more competition - although I agree that Zavvi have always been over-priced and abit of a dump!

 

Och, they were AWFUL mate.... They just turned that once great store which was a real pleasure to shop in (when it was Tower) into an utter sh!tehole..... A dreadful place, and a really cr@ppy experience.... I would spend ages in Tower just browsing, when it became Zavvi, I avoided it like the plague and stuck to my shop in Camden.....

 

Tbh though, in a few years time, the music market will be dead. Artists will be releasing their music by giving it away for free, it's already been known for the past few years that artists and record companies aren't actually making much money from album sales. It's all about touring. So I don't think it really will matter in the longterm whether the physical market lasts or not.

 

Actually, I think that the indie places will survive, because they're specializing, doing the stuff that's hard to get, even on the Net.... The place I shop in Camden doesn't seem to be having half the problems that the regular High St chains do.... They also diversify into concert promotion as well though..... So, this probably helps them stay afloat....

 

Breaking News: HMV buying a number of Zavvi stores

Actually, I think that the indie places will survive, because they're specializing, doing the stuff that's hard to get, even on the Net.... The place I shop in Camden doesn't seem to be having half the problems that the regular High St chains do.... They also diversify into concert promotion as well though..... So, this probably helps them stay afloat....

 

Totally agree - the second hand market will grow too. Good for the music fan, but not necessarily the industry...

ZAVVI STORES BOUGHT BY HMV

Bournemouth Castlepoint

Crewe

Dundalk

Dundrum

Glasgow Fort

Glasgow Silverburn

Liffey Valley

Limerick

Newbridge

Peterborough

Plymouth (Drake Circus)

Salisbury

Southend

Stockton-on-Tees (Teesside Shopping Park)

Breaking News: HMV buying a number of Zavvi stores

Quite risky even for HMV. I don't think it's much of a good move or will pay off in any way, their not going to make much more of a profit than what they already do.

Can't believe they haven't closed Leicester's yet!

 

Quite risky even for HMV. I don't think it's much of a good move or will pay off in any way, their not going to make much more of a profit than what they already do.

 

A curious decision tbh.... Maybe it makes sense in a way, if they're buying up the stores in places where they have no actual presence themselves yet.... It's cheaper to buy up a failing store from a competitor than to start up from scratch.... And HMV have at least a bit more of clue of how to run a record store than Zavvi ever did.....

 

Thank God the one in Nottingham isn't going just yet! That's always quite busy, so I doubt that'll be shutting anytime soon TBH! (Watch a new update come in with Nottingham's name on :lol:)

They're also looking at overheads bear in mind Slick.... To operate the stores in Times Square and Piccadilly, the running costs will be huge, much more so than smaller provincial stores, and I guess they chose Oxford St over Piccadilly in order to keep one going in Central London...... Mind you, these are Flagship stores we're talking about... It tends to spell trouble regardless.....

 

I just wonder how long it'll be before Oxford St closes down

Ah yeah true, I guess my little hometown isn't exactly high on their list of priorities whereas a shop on Oxford Street clearly is... that said, the Sheffield & Meadowhall ones are ok so far, no news yet I don't think.

 

I do like Zavvi too, I used to avoid Virgin like the plague but I much prefer Zavvi. HMV is obviously cheaper though for a lot of things. Sad times.

So few of the top CDs in the Reading branch of Zavvi - no Lady GaGa, no Kings of Leon, no Duffy, no Take That, no Leona, no Girls Aloud, no James Morrison ... loads of the Killers album though and plenty of their back catalogue on sale.

They don't seem to be closing the Middlesbrough branch either. Don't know why, it's rubbish. Much bigger than the HMV, but that just means more sale DVDs...