The Closure of HMV

[Tom_green_day]

The popular British media shop HMV has just gone into administration with prospects looking down and I thought that now is as good a time as any to talk about how high-street shops are still going to remain relevant, if at all.
The same happened to Game not too long ago and they managed to pull through, but that's not saying HMV will. I loved that shop, buying my CDs and games there, and I'm really sorry to anyone affected by joblessness or in any other way.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

It's their own damn fault for being so uncompetitive in terms of pricing. What did they seriously expect would happen?

 

[aba1]

I am a little nervous for the future with digital distribution getting bigger and bigger. Being a designer/web developer this is good for me as a individual but without retail stores there will be a lot less jobs with a already bad job market to begin with. Retail jobs make up a rather large portion of the market take away most retail and that is a MASSIVE dent in the job market.

 

[lacktheknack]

Crap! HMV is where I got all my music! Man, I hope it doesn't go down... I don't wanna have to go to Revolver...

 

[lacktheknack]

It's their own damn fault for being so uncompetitive in terms of pricing. What did they seriously expect would happen?

You kidding me? HMV often put on sales where good, new albums were going for five bucks a piece.

Maybe Canadian HMV is different than Aussie HMV.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

It's their own damn fault for being so uncompetitive in terms of pricing. What did they seriously expect would happen?

You kidding me? HMV often put on sales where good, new albums were going for five bucks a piece.

Maybe Canadian HMV is different than Aussie HMV.

Yeah they probably are different. I was just referring to their prices on new release games though. Always seemed to be more expensive than the competition

 

[Andy Shandy]

It's their own damn fault for being so uncompetitive in terms of pricing. What did they seriously expect would happen?

You kidding me? HMV often put on sales where good, new albums were going for five bucks a piece.

Maybe Canadian HMV is different than Aussie HMV.

Must be. British HMV is bloody expensive compared to pretty much every other store you can music, dvds, games etc from.

Can't say I'm shocked to hear this, although as always I feel sorry for the employees, at least some of whom if not all, will be losing their jobs.

 

[lacktheknack]

It's their own damn fault for being so uncompetitive in terms of pricing. What did they seriously expect would happen?

You kidding me? HMV often put on sales where good, new albums were going for five bucks a piece.

Maybe Canadian HMV is different than Aussie HMV.

Yeah they probably are different. I was just referring to their prices on new release games though. Always seemed to be more expensive than the competition

Ah. HMV around here doesn't even sell games, aside from the occasional Nintendo DS rack. We think of it as a music-n-movies store, and those are actually fairly reasonably priced.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

It's their own damn fault for being so uncompetitive in terms of pricing. What did they seriously expect would happen?

You kidding me? HMV often put on sales where good, new albums were going for five bucks a piece.

Maybe Canadian HMV is different than Aussie HMV.

Yeah they probably are different. I was just referring to their prices on new release games though. Always seemed to be more expensive than the competition

Ah. HMV around here doesn't even sell games, aside from the occasional Nintendo DS rack. We think of it as a music-n-movies store, and those are actually fairly reasonably priced.

Yeah they have more games here. However they sell them at like 20+ dollars more than what I can get at other retailers. They aren't as bad as EB games though.

 

[clipse15]

Well Canadian HMV is run seperatly from the british one and will be staying open which rocks because the sales they haev on dvds are awesome

 

[Melon Hunter]

The worst part of this is that with other prominent High Street casualties, there have always been competitors that survived. However , HMV is the last of the nationwide media chains; no-one else really sells CDs ad DVDs on the same scale, and let's face it, we're still a long way off everyone being comfortable with digital distribution. I'd consider it good enough if HMV can stay afloat in a reduced capacity, like Game, but I think there needs to be a serious re-think on how a brick-and-mortar retailer can compete with digital wares.

 

[Padwolf]

It's sad that things are looking so bad for them. Game went through this but they are alright, hell the other day I saw a new Game store. HMV have always been the most expensive, I only ever bought something from there when it wasn't in the sales. The sales are good but otherwise it's bloody expensive. It is sad that if it does close it will leave many jobless.

 

[Tony2077]

well i live in Canada so long live hmv

 

[MetalDooley]

It's not just the British HMV.Their entire Irish operation has gone into administration as well.If what happened to GAME is anything to go by then the Irish stores will be shut down in the next few weeks.It's a shame as I buy a lot of my physical media there

Yeah they probably are different. I was just referring to their prices on new release games though. Always seemed to be more expensive than the competition

Must depend on the country.I always found HMV here in Ireland to be pretty decent price wise especially for games

Game went through this but they are alright,

If by alright you mean having to close around half their stores including their entire Irish operation then yeah I guess they're alright

 

[Raggedstar]

We had an HMV in a mall near here, but they closed down a few years ago. And it figured because it was the ONLY music store that had things I liked (the alternative is Walmart and the like, but they have nothing for me). And I have no stores like that within a 20 minute drive. I heard nothing about why that HMV closed, but with what happened here there may be something up with HMV Canada too.

I don't usually shop for games there (because the prices and selection aren't great), but that was also the place I got Shadow of the Colossus on an impulse buy.

 

[J Tyran]

The British high street is carnage atm, Jessops, HMV, Comet and now Blockbusters have all gone tits up on the last few weeks. Its pretty obvious noncompetitive pricing is a big part of it but there are other issues too like high VAT rates. Go and buy an Xbox or a PS3 and you will pay around £30 (minimum) on top in VAT.

Theres a worrying trend made horribly relevant with the Jessops and HMV collapse, gift vouchers will not be redeemed. This is particularly shitty straight after Christmas, the peak time for them being sold. A lot of people get those things for Christmas and now they are useless.

 

[MetalDooley]

Theres a worrying trend made horribly relevant with the Jessops and HMV collapse, gift vouchers will not be redeemed. This is particularly shitty straight after Christmas, the peak time for them being sold. A lot of people get those things for Christmas and now they are useless.

This is happening with HMV in Ireland and I have to ask how is this legal?They've received the money in advance but are now refusing to hand over the goods people are entitled to.Sounds a lot like theft in my book

 

[J Tyran]

Theres a worrying trend made horribly relevant with the Jessops and HMV collapse, gift vouchers will not be redeemed. This is particularly shitty straight after Christmas, the peak time for them being sold. A lot of people get those things for Christmas and now they are useless.

This is happening with HMV in Ireland and I have to ask how is this legal?They've received the money in advance but are now refusing to hand over the goods people are entitled to.Sounds a lot like theft in my book

Not sure exactly how but its the same as if Microsoft died, if they did they no longer have to redeem any XBL points you have. To speculate its probably something to do with the vouchers essentially being a product, by buying the vouchers you have bought the product and only the appropriate consumer laws apply. It really does suck I think OFT needs to look at new legislation reforms regarding gift vouchers, its never been a large problem before. Now with so many retailers going bust straight after the time of year most gift vouchers are sold its highlighting just how shitty the system actually is.

 

[Scarim Coral]

While I am sad for its closure but their cost of DVD, CD and etc were always expensive when compared to Online sites like Play.com and Amazon (I'm from the UK before you asked).
Sorry but at the end of the day it's cost that matter, not loyality (and it's also the fact when I wanted to buy an old DVD or it was release months ago, they no longer have it while it's easy to get online!) .

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

It's their own damn fault for being so uncompetitive in terms of pricing. What did they seriously expect would happen?

You kidding me? HMV often put on sales where good, new albums were going for five bucks a piece.

Maybe Canadian HMV is different than Aussie HMV.

Yeah they probably are different. I was just referring to their prices on new release games though. Always seemed to be more expensive than the competition

Ah. HMV around here doesn't even sell games, aside from the occasional Nintendo DS rack. We think of it as a music-n-movies store, and those are actually fairly reasonably priced.

Whereabouts in Canada are you? Because where I'm at the HMVs sell a large amount of games. Have been for a while.

My biggest beef with HMV isn't the prices. Its the fact that I can't find any albums by artists I like. If its anything other than a well known indie hip hop artist or a mainstream artist, Sunrise Records usually gets my business. Used to be CD Plus but they went under.

Another problem I have with CD stores in general is the obscenely long time it takes to restock. It should not, in 2013, take 4 weeks to get a CD to a store.