HMV: Debt-laden retailer may appoint administrator
- Thread starter ksher
- Start date
There goes the cheap, impulse purchase DVD and blu ray purchases 
It's been inevitable for a while now. Only been kept going in the last few months by being subsidised by the music wholesalers.
They had plenty of time to reinvent themselves but kept their heads in the sand.
May have kept going for a bit longer if their main competitor had to pay Corporation Tax :?
They had plenty of time to reinvent themselves but kept their heads in the sand.
May have kept going for a bit longer if their main competitor had to pay Corporation Tax :?
As K99 says no surprise but dissapointing not going to be much on the high street and we will all be buying things off the internet.
Or Tesco...
Even clothing and shoes are successful online. My daughters buy clothing online regularly. Most clothing stores make it easy to return things (I know distance buying laws apply)
Many of these companies did not get into online retail quick enough or with any real enthusiasm and I think they are now paying the price.
However I don't like Amazon that much either, they are not always that cheap and their search facility is absolute pants
However I don't like Amazon that much either, they are not always that cheap and their search facility is absolute pants
Online will kill the high street but then when i want clothes,cd's,DVD's,building materials,car products blah blah I ask myself ?
A) can i buy a better product in town ? NO
B) will it be priced competitively ? NO
C) can i park easily ? NO
D) is parking free ? NO
E) will i have to deal with idiots in order to get what i want ? YES
so what do i do ? :wink:
A) can i buy a better product in town ? NO
B) will it be priced competitively ? NO
C) can i park easily ? NO
D) is parking free ? NO
E) will i have to deal with idiots in order to get what i want ? YES
so what do i do ? :wink:
HMV have probably missed a bit of a trick really...they were the only proper national DVD / CD retailer left and my local store has about as much space given over to headphones as they do CDs. All manner of headphones on fake heads...some buyer / merchandiser somewhere in head office was clearly allowed to go on a bit of a folly. I had headphones once, when I DJ'd....outside of london very few youths buy them to listen to their tunes on da bus. innit.
trouble is, with the supply chain logistics afforded to online retailers, the working capital management of a high street retailer has to be spot on - low margins, high overheads, borrowing costs and fierce competition - it's a tough market to be in.
sad, i have always liked popping in to have a flick through the CDs and, years back, vinyl.
trouble is, with the supply chain logistics afforded to online retailers, the working capital management of a high street retailer has to be spot on - low margins, high overheads, borrowing costs and fierce competition - it's a tough market to be in.
sad, i have always liked popping in to have a flick through the CDs and, years back, vinyl.
The stores that put the gadget lines in are making money, but as a business, too little too late
One of the few stores that made taking daughter shopping bearable. You could go and browse the shelves then find coffee nearby
One of the few stores that made taking daughter shopping bearable. You could go and browse the shelves then find coffee nearby
Unfortunately the majority of you are in the minority. Not enough people bought media from HMV as business shifted from hard copy ownership towards Download To Own (DTO) and streaming Video on Demand (VOD).
Secondly as has been mentioned already, heads were in sand and not enough was done to reinvent a rapidly changing business as DTO and VOD took market share.
It's a real shame it's come to this. As a specialist retailer they were without real high street peer and IMO should have built their own online presence and trimmed the size and number of their physical outlets.
The decline in physical formats (gaming included) and with no real fight back has been the downfall of this once mighty and iconic retailer.
Secondly as has been mentioned already, heads were in sand and not enough was done to reinvent a rapidly changing business as DTO and VOD took market share.
It's a real shame it's come to this. As a specialist retailer they were without real high street peer and IMO should have built their own online presence and trimmed the size and number of their physical outlets.
The decline in physical formats (gaming included) and with no real fight back has been the downfall of this once mighty and iconic retailer.
chris g said:
dunno, there is a place on the high street for hmv's products, if it is done right. they need to think of the demographic at who they should aim, there's a lot of people, with a lot of disposable cash, who aren't keen on shopping online.
my mother is quite happy for me to take the risk of a nigerian cloning my credit card for her online purchases, but will happily spend every day of the week on the high street.
Shame about HMV, as a rural-dwelling youth I used to love going to Virgin and HMV.
Reevsie, Play.com used to be OK but I was finding them increasingly hard to find anything new as the marketplace-style section was taking over, and in fact they are solely concentrating on this now. What I did like was that each item was sent separately so the postman could post several at once and I didn't have to wait in and sign for something too big for the letterbox. VAT loophole is closed now.
Reevsie, Play.com used to be OK but I was finding them increasingly hard to find anything new as the marketplace-style section was taking over, and in fact they are solely concentrating on this now. What I did like was that each item was sent separately so the postman could post several at once and I didn't have to wait in and sign for something too big for the letterbox. VAT loophole is closed now.