HMV RIP

[Alison]

Popped into 363 Oxford St today. Alas, the Classical section has to share the first floor with several other genres. The Chailly Brahms set was available at £22 but most other new releases I wanted were not to be found.

No LPO Live Das Lied Von Der Erde nor the Nott Mahler 6 but stacks of Jansons Mahler 8's!

I think 150 Oxford St may still be open but perhaps someone can confirm.

[cloughie]

Popped into 363 Oxford St today. Alas, the Classical section has to share the first floor with several other genres. The Chailly Brahms set was available at £22 but most other new releases I wanted were not to be found.

No LPO Live Das Lied Von Der Erde nor the Nott Mahler 6 but stacks of Jansons Mahler 8's!

I think 150 Oxford St may still be open but perhaps someone can confirm.

Interesting to see what HMVs have survived - the Truro store is still there, and on my travels so is Swansea but the Bristol Cribbs Causeway one has gone. I picked up some interesting 4 for £10 items.

[Alison]

The Chelmsford one is still open and always seems quite busy. The classical section is slightly worse than before.

[subcontrabass]

Next instalment in this saga: https://www.theguardian.com/business...administration and https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46699290

[Conchis]

'We're all guilty.'

[cloughie]

'We're all guilty.'

‘Said the 2018 Head Trawler of Charity Shops.’

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

‘Said the 2018 Head Trawler of Charity Shops.’

Not quite sure what I'm "guilty" of - not buying stuff from a shop that no longer stocks what I want to buy? Yup - guilty, m'lud.



And with 71,928,467,627,385,625,110,000,000,067 other offenses to be taken into consideration.

[Conchis]

‘Said the 2018 Head Trawler of Charity Shops.’

I think pastolaguy may (just) have the beating of me, there....

But, yes, it's become difficult to find the stuff you want in bricks and mortar 'new' record stores and they're no longer the places for productive browsing they once were. Charity shops seem to have filled that role by default.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

But, yes, it's become difficult to find the stuff you want in bricks and mortar 'new' record stores and they're no longer the places for productive browsing they once were. Charity shops seem to have filled that role by default.

[teamsaint]

Very tricky to draw comparisons, in what are fluid markets, but Ferney’s point does highlight the fact that HMV don’t seem to have moved their stores n the attractive( to many) direction that book shops have moved in the last 10 years, which in the case of the larger stores does meant stocking a pretty wide range of product.

It would be great if somebody could rescue HMV. I wonder if either of the newly acquired Waterstones( again) or the very dynamic WHS Travel might be sniffing around. I doubt it, but you never know.

[pastoralguy]

I think pastolaguy may (just) have the beating of me, there....

But, yes, it's become difficult to find the stuff you want in bricks and mortar 'new' record stores and they're no longer the places for productive browsing they once were. Charity shops seem to have filled that role by default.

We still have ONE HMV shop in Edinburgh at the Ocean Terminal Centre, (home of The Royal Yacht, Britannia!), but it's the opposite side of the city for me so hardly convenient. The last time I was there was during the summer and only because Mrs. PG had been given a voucher which, iirc, I commented that spending it quickly could be a good move! And so it's come to pass.

The 'Classical' section was piteous with only the most recently hyped releases being available amongst the Alfie Boe and Katherine Jenkin's discs. The one cd I did fancy was available for £16.00 despite being £9.50 on Amazon. So, inevitably, I passed.

So whilst I'm sorry to see the final nail in the coffin for 'bricks and mortar' shops there's no denying that the writing has been on the wall for a long time now. It would seem you can't stop progress.

[Pulcinella]

The Boe/Jenkins-type preponderance certainly chimes with my experience of the classical section of the York shop, though some of their stock has been competitively priced, and Naxos 3 for £15 offers can be a bit tempting. I'll be sorry if the chain goes under, and not just because of another potentially unoccupied property on what was one of York's main shopping streets.

I'll definitely pop in if it looks like big reductions are likely, but there's not likely to be much that appeals.

I share some of the guilt, but I did once ask them if they took orders for CDs not stocked: if I remember correctly, the response was that I might as well order online myself (not sure if via their site or not, or even if they have/had one!).

[Conchis]

The Boe/Jenkins-type preponderance certainly chimes with my experience of the classical section of the York shop, though some of their stock has been competitively priced, and Naxos 3 for £15 offers can be a bit tempting. I'll be sorry if the chain goes under, and not just because of another potentially unoccupied property on what was one of York's main shopping streets.

I'll definitely pop in if it looks like big reductions are likely, but there's not likely to be much that appeals.

I share some of the guilt, but I did once ask them if they took orders for CDs not stocked: if I remember correctly, the response was that I might as well order online myself (not sure if via their site or not, or even if they have/had one!).

The York shop is still good. I bought some Zappa CDs from it at the beginning of this year.

Fopp is Britain's best bricks and mortar record outlet and it's owned by HMV. It's not great for classical (though, hst, I did pick up some great £3.00 a shot bargains when I was in Edinburgh a few years back) but it's competitively priced and the shops have a great ambience. The outlets in London, Nottingham, Cambridge and Edinburgh all seem to do well. It would be a shame if they close because of this.

[cloughie]

Not quite sure what I'm "guilty" of - not buying stuff from a shop that no longer stocks what I want to buy? Yup - guilty, m'lud.



And with 71,928,467,627,385,625,110,000,000,067 other offenses to be taken into consideration.

By ‘eck ferney that’s a big CD collection!

[Serial_Apologist]

By ‘eck ferney that’s a big CD collection!

He probably accommodates himself, his computer and bed etc in the front porch!