Does anyone still shop at HMV?

"we don't have anything like this back in my country"

Is there one at Terminal 2?

If there is it'll be quiet as T2 closed years ago (though they're building a new one).

The administrators from Deloitte said the HMV stores would close over the next four to six weeks and would probably lead to all affected staff being made redundant, although it would try to relocate employees to other stores where possible.

Flagship stores at London's Heathrow airport, where ground rents are high, are among those set for closure.

I shall give Heathrow Terminal 5 a last look on Friday, then.

They've extended the blue cross sale to electronic stuff at 20% off.

That was the final straw for me, so I picked up an iPad. They seemed to be doing brisk business, as Apple hardware is rarely reduced and certainly not to 20%.

its a two pronged sword in that, i'd never buy an iPad from HMV if they weren't on a mega sale, and they are only on a mega sale as no one bought electronic goods from them, apart from kids buying Beats headphones.

By 20%, right?

The Heathrow ones closing are a drag - they sell stuff at much cheaper prices in those stores (I've never tried to figure out why; assume it's something duty-free-esque?). I always made a point to have a quick browse before a flight.

WE'RE SAVED!

Sky News has confirmed that singer Sir Elton John will perform at an HMV store in the future to help support the chain's survival.

The performer's spokesman, Gary Farrow, said it would likely be an "intimate" gig.

Mr Farrow said: "Elton has always been a big supporter of record shops.

"He will be doing something with HMV although as yet we cannot confirm what or when that would be."

what are the chances of it being outside london?

"the chances of elton performing in hull are a million to one they said"

well he needs to choose somewhere that still has an HMV xp

Heathrow Terminal 2 would make for a very intimate gig

I was in the Edinburgh Princes St store at lunchtime. They claim to be having a 'Store Closing - Everything Reduced' sale but there was still pretty much nothing worth buying.

Forget the CDs, check out the fixtures and fittings!

Just been in the one in Bristol. None of the hardware marked Blue Cross but when I asked they confirmed it was but they only had the display models that were out.

Which they offered me a further 25% off because of. I've just bought an iPad2 for under £200.

Glasgow Silverburn HMV closes tonight, in 20 minutes time...

They were one of those scheduled for closure, but apparently the administrators simply told them today that when they shut tonight it was for the last time.

There'll be no HMV in Glasgow, then.

I remember my dad taking me to the old Union Street branch back in 1969.

And the glorious days of Listen, Bloggs, 23rd Precinct, Bruce's, etc. in the seventies (and early eighties also as well; copyright Gary Crowley) wherein I spent I don't know how much money on all sorts of wonderful stuff.

Now the story has come to an end.

I guess music consumers have got what they wanted but lost what they had. And I think we've lost a lot.

Buchanan Street is staying open.

I heard that was going as well.

When this is all over, anybody fancy throwing in together and opening a record shop in Central London?

Jumping off Westminster Bridge might be a quicker and cheaper alternative, given it would probably come to the same conclusion.

Buchanan Street hasn't been on any of the lists for closure and I've heard that they negotiated a huge rent reduction for the space. It would be foolish to think anything is safe, but I certainly haven't heard anything about it closing.

Ah well, that's something, I suppose. Can't imagine somewhere the size of Glasgow without any HMV at all. Any news about Fopp (Union Street and Byres Road)?

There was the odd rumour about people being interested in buying Fopp out, no idea if it'll happen though. The London branch is looking pretty forlorn these days, I hope they survive at least.

Fopp in general I mean, not just London.

The Glasgow Fopps have almost no decent stock in them now, if they were to survive then they would need to be significantly replenished from somewhere or other

Fopp (2.0) were always an overspill outlet for HMV with a few recent releases. Dont know how it could survive without HMV.

unless it was totally revamped and turned independant.

and who is going to buy an independant record shop chain these days?

Well HMV did when they bought Fopp!
Hmm, you may have a point.

The Buchanan street HMV shop would just lay empty forever if HMV closed because I cannot imagine anybody moving in there.

The Buchanan street HMV shop would just lay empty forever if HMV closed because I cannot imagine anybody moving in there.

given the number of city centre shops around the bristol hmv that are empty now, i suspect this is probably going to be the case for most closures.

the rent & rates for that store must be huge (even with a rent reduction)

There is a degree of hearsay to this, so forgive me if it is nonsense, but what I heard is that it was £1 million a year, which was just negotiated down to £400,000 as part of that particular store's survival ploy. It doesn't sound unrealistic. I don't know who actually owns the building/space however.

Although there is a lot of development going on at that top end of town, if the rent rumours are true, then I have to agree with our man Goalkeeper that it would be an incredibly large and expensive space to fill, even in a prime Glasgow centre location. It would be too big for most stores, but not probably not big enough for a department store.

its a shite store with hardly any cds, lots of empty floorspace and the ground floor never has any music on it except maybe a crappy sale. That shop could be amazing with shitloads of back catalog cds and vinyl but i assume with the rent and rates they could never make enough profit.

One excess 'not' in that final clause, sorry.

tell $andy to rent it ;)

Ha, I'll offer them £10,000 a year for it myself!

if you were a billionaire with no caring for profits you could have too amazing (but lossmaking) stores in the HMV and old Tower Records shops.

Absolutely!

believe me I've dreamt about winning £150m in the euro lottery (that i dont even play) and opening the best record shop ever in the old tower store

i believe you, algerian goalkeeper

glasgow still has a p gd selection of independent rec shops imho, fuck hmv (new volcanic tongue just for eg is nice bright space that literally shuts the outside world right out - esp if coltrane is the stereo system, as it was when i visited recently)

is ON the stereo system - tho might now get a t-shirt w/ 'coltrane is the stereo system' printed on it

Worth bearing in mind a load of old established businesses were pushed out of the top end of Buchanan Street by those high rents in order to facilitate development a few years back. I'm sure they'll be delighted to hear HMV is now (apparently) getting a reduced rate.

right.

some info.

fopp is not going to be sold off seperately as a going concern (: 'they dont want to create a competitor - as this was one of the reasons that hmv bought fopp in the first place'

25th of march - or thereabouts - is the crunch date as the next 3 month rent payments are due.

given the dearth of decent stock in both hmv and fopp now, going to be interesting what happens between now and then.

oh, and you have to love the large decarations of "70% off!*" signs scattered around the shops.

( * = calenders )

HMV intent on dragging Fopp down with them then...dunno what would happen if it all went tits up, could some plucky entrepeneur just pick up the Fopp brand at that point or would there be complications with doing that? Assuming that Fopp actually has any value as a business concern, which may or may not be the case.

'they dont want to create a competitor - as this was one of the reasons that hmv bought fopp in the first place'

ladies and gentlemen, may i present to you BRITISH BUSINESS ACUMEN. all hail the job creator.

I had a very similar discussion with an acquaintance from the Argyle Street branch just last night mark e - the 3 months rent/end of March issue is certainly true there too and the fact that despite facing closure they are still getting new stock delivered daily in very large quantities (like hundreds of copies of big new releases).

I hadn't thought about the Fopp issue like that, but it makes perfect sense. Could you hint as to where you heard that so specifically?

no hint necessary : bristol