HMV to close 60 shops across the UK this year...

[pastoralguy]

This has just been announced on the Radio 3 One O'Clock News. Will it make much difference to message boarders? Is this the beginning of the end for High Street CD and DVD retailing?

[Curalach]

Is this the beginning of the end for High Street CD and DVD retailing?

Not really, that began several years ago.

The closures announced to the Stock Market this morning are a response to a 20% drop in sales and include Waterstone's. There will be few retailers that can absorb that level of drop in turnover without taking drastic action.
As far as I am concerned it will make no difference at all to my CD purchasing as I find the service, price and convenience of buying on-line irresistible.

[Mr Pee]

This has just been announced on the Radio 3 One O'Clock News. Will it make much difference to message boarders? Is this the beginning of the end for High Street CD and DVD retailing?

I very rarely buy CDs on the High Street these days, as they're invariably cheaper on line, and the classical section in the local HMV is pathetic.

[Paul Sherratt]

I sent a note to HMV telling them that my potential spending on their products was seroiusly diminished because of the
bloody disorientating and unimaginative racket your ears and mind have to endure in their outlets.


Wonder if I'll get a reply !

[Ferretfancy]

I live in London near the West End, and HMV seemed to be packed over the holiday. I understand that their classical sales at the Tottenham Court Road shop are holding up well. I do buy online occasionally, but I would really miss the browsing experience and the chance to spot the unexpected. You do need to be clear what you are looking for online, and to me that's a drawback. I'll probably spend more time in Les Aldrich at Muswell Hill for that friendly personal attention.

[Don Petter]

Since the classical content of HMV shops has been zilch for some years (maybe except in the Smoke, where I rarely go), it will make no difference to me.

[Panjandrum]

You do need to be clear what you are looking for online, and to me that's a drawback.

For those who are wallet conscious it may be considered that is a disadvantage of browsing

However, I find that online purchasing can also have similar results. Amazon, in particular, always follows up on a purchase by suggesting other related titles that one might like to consider; with the inevitable result that one always ends up buying more than one had initially intended...

[DoctorT]

I sent a note to HMV telling them that my potential spending on their products was seroiusly diminished because of the
bloody disorientating and unimaginative racket your ears and mind have to endure in their outlets.


Wonder if I'll get a reply !

No you won't Paul. When HMV in Belfast downsized their classical department a few years ago I wrote to the manager and didn't receive a reply: poor customer relations don't help their cause.

Incidentally, I visited the shop in Belfast this morning, inspired by message boarders' remarks about good sale prices in London. I could find no classical CDs in their sale, and certainly no Beethoven boxes for £10. Nearby, in a new(ish) CD shop called 'Head' (is this part of a chain?) I found a much better selection, some really good bargains and helpful staff.

[Nick Armstrong]

Amazon, in particular, always follows up on a purchase by suggesting other related titles that one might like to consider; with the inevitable result that one always ends up buying more than one had initially intended...

Does one? When I began to use the site, I found the insistent "suggestions" of amazon very irritating and patronising. Why on earth should my preferences or spending be shaped by some robotically-processed operation based on others' purchases? I took a deliberate decision years ago to ignore them totally. "Inevitable result"?? Not true. I guarantee I have never once been influenced by amazon's cyber-marketing ploys. Apart from that, I am a great amazon fan. It's very very rare that their free overnight delivery isn't fast enough, or that they can't supply what I want at the best price.

[3rd Viennese School]

I'm still one of the few buying CDs in shops! Well, what's left of them. I don't have internet at home. And wouldn't one miss all that browsing!:?
Just what one needs with the addition of the specialist shops that have shut!
I better get uptown to Oxford Street this weekend by the looks of it!

Yours disgusted
3VS

[french frank]

Nearby, in a new(ish) CD shop called 'Head' (is this part of a chain?) I found a much better selection, some really good bargains and helpful staff.

Head is a survivor of the Virgin Megastore/Zavvi meltdown. Most of the Head stores have closed but it seems (Wikipedia knows!) this is indeed a new store from the same stable.

[BBMmk2]

As far as the HMV stores are concerned, no great loss to people who like 'serious' music(ie classical). Their 'classical' section is rather hmmm limited!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I occasionally visit the abominable HMV shop in Scarborough, but only to buy DVDs of feature films. If ever a high street chain deserved to go under, this is it.

[Flosshilde]

I very rarely buy CDs on the High Street these days, as they're invariably cheaper on line, and the classical section in the local HMV is pathetic.

I wonder which came first? (not specifically in Mr Pee's case, but generally)

I, like French, prefer to browse, &, like another poster, find myself generally irritated by Amazon's suggestions (in books, mainly, as I haven't used them to buy CDs). Unfortunately we have no shop in Glasgow selling classical music. The Edinburgh branch of HMV is (or was) quite good, & there is still have an independent shop.

It's unfortunate (re the Tottenham Court Road branch in London) that if a branch is profitable in itself it still gets closed. The same situation happend with Borders in Glasgow, which apparently was the only profitable branch, & would probably have been viable if it had stayed open.

[Flosshilde]

I wonder if there will be a knock-on effect for Waterstone's, which is also having problems?