HMV RIP

[mikealdren]

Has anyone seen whether the blue cross sale in the stores is worth a visit?

Mike

[Cheapskater]

Has anyone seen whether the blue cross sale in the stores is worth a visit?

Mike

Hi Mike,

I did look into my local HMV today to see if they had any CDs of interest. Blue Cross discount is (currently) 25% but they generally have uncompetitive prices i.e. Ten or Twelve quid for CD so I wasn't tempted. I would be very sorry to see them go from the High Street, but their classical offering is not great in any case. Sadly, I think that the market is moving to downloads (hopefully FLAC or m4a at least!) but I do value having the CD media itself. Lets hope that the Car Boots & Charity shops will remain well stocked until this materiel falls into our strong hands (and not into Landfill!)

[hafod]

Has anyone seen whether the blue cross sale in the stores is worth a visit?

Mike

I called in to my 'local' HMV in Bath today. As far as classical music was concerned the blue cross sale for me was a bit of a non-event as the 25% - where applied - was to prices already very high. The result therefore is an item about the same price (or a bit higher) as elsewhere. However, they did have a number of 'previously owned swap shop items' (I reported this on the Bargains thread in December) which were real bargains at £2. I examined about 20 such discs in all and two were heavily marked. The rest were at least 'very good' as in Amazon Marketplace terminology, and the vast majority 'like new'. Many were Naxos discs but I did pick up Beecham Haydn 93, 94 and 103 on Sony, Stanford Violin Concerto on Hyperion, Brahms 1 from Giulini/VPO, Beecham 'Lollipops' on BBC Legends, Beethoven VC from Mintz/Sinopoli/Philharmonia on DG, Svetlanov compositions on Russian Disc and Mussorgsky Pictures/Berman c/w the Ravel orchestration of same from BPO/Karajan. Among others, I left behind Klemperer/German Requiem and Klemperer Brahms 3/4 but only because they are in the new Brahms/Klemperer box I have on order from the grocer. When I eventually got to the till - a long queque, rare in HMV Bath these days - a further 25% was deducted although there was nothing to say that the blue cross discount applied. £1.50 a disc - at these prices the charity shops better watch out!

A good day topped off with a visit to Patisserie Valerie and, talking of charity shops, a Swedish Society Alfven disc from Westerberg and the Stockholm Philharmonic recorded 54/57 from a hospice charity shop.

[Flosshilde]

I had a quick browse through one of Glasgow's HMV shops, & noticed vol 6 of Richard Strauss: 6 The Complete Songs - priced at £13, so with 25% off it will be substantially cheaper than Amazon (£11.23). There were plenty of other things worth buying too.

"a non-event as the 25% - where applied - was to prices already very high. The result therefore is an item about the same price (or a bit higher) as elsewhere."

The prices were generally the 'correct' price, as set by the recording companies. I don't quite see how 25% off these could be anything but a bargain (assuming you liked the recording) & worth buying, even if Amazon et al was offering the same discount, & a lot more convenient given that you would have it straight away, rather than wait for delivery.

[John Wright]

Has anyone seen whether the blue cross sale in the stores is worth a visit?

Mike

I posted this elsewhere at the weekend:

My birthday was this week, the big 60! One present from a mate was an HMV Gift Card for £20. He said spend it quick before they go into administration! I went along to the store in Nuneaton and just about everything is at sales prices, mostly 25% discount, and a lot at half price. I got a Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes DVD boxed set (all 14 movies) reduced from £50 to £15 and a Holst Naxos CD for £5.25.

The shop was busy, I expect attracted by the discounts. But there is so much stuff in the shop that, really, people will not buy, like DVDs for £7 like Notting Hill, Guns Of Navarone, Matrix the sort of films that are on TV very often and can be recorded or ondemand via a sky box.

To answer your question properly Mike, although much of the classical shelf was discounted it was mainly £8 discounted to £6, hardly bargains these days. The Nuneaton classical shelf occupies about 1% or the dhop, with a choice of about 200 CDs.

[Mr Pee]

I had a quick browse through one of Glasgow's HMV shops, & noticed vol 6 of Richard Strauss: 6 The Complete Songs - priced at £13, so with 25% off it will be substantially cheaper than Amazon (£11.23). There were plenty of other things worth buying too.

"a non-event as the 25% - where applied - was to prices already very high. The result therefore is an item about the same price (or a bit higher) as elsewhere."

The prices were generally the 'correct' price, as set by the recording companies. I don't quite see how 25% off these could be anything but a bargain (assuming you liked the recording) & worth buying, even if Amazon et al was offering the same discount, & a lot more convenient given that you would have it straight away, rather than wait for delivery.

The Glasgow branch must have a much better classical selection than my local store, where it was virtually non-existent. Add to that the high prices, the staff who knew sweet FA about Classical music, and the ear-shredding noise that was played over the in-store audio system, and one needed no further encouragement to avoid the place like the plague.

[MrGongGong]

the ear-shredding noise that was played over the in-store audio system,

That's no way to talk about Elgar

[BBMmk2]

It's ben on the cards for sometime, the death knell for HMV.

I am not surprised really,they changed their stock policy.

[Mr Pee]

That's no way to talk about Elgar

I wish. The staff probably thought Elgar was some sort of exotic condiment.

[MrGongGong]

I wish. The staff probably thought Elgar was some sort of exotic condiment.

I thought it was a Spanish Station ?

[Karafan]

I posted this elsewhere at the weekend:

My birthday was this week, the big 60! One present from a mate was an HMV Gift Card for £20. He said spend it quick before they go into administration! I went along to the store in Nuneaton and just about everything is at sales prices, mostly 25% discount, and a lot at half price. I got a Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes DVD boxed set (all 14 movies) reduced from £50 to £15 and a Holst Naxos CD for £5.25.

The shop was busy, I expect attracted by the discounts. But there is so much stuff in the shop that, really, people will not buy, like DVDs for £7 like Notting Hill, Guns Of Navarone, Matrix the sort of films that are on TV very often and can be recorded or ondemand via a sky box.

To answer your question properly Mike, although much of the classical shelf was discounted it was mainly £8 discounted to £6, hardly bargains these days. The Nuneaton classical shelf occupies about 1% or the dhop, with a choice of about 200 CDs.

Just as well you spent out sharpish John as they are now refusing to honour any gift cards bought. Terrible luck for anyone with unspent ones lingering after Christmas.

[amateur51]

I thought it was a Spanish Station ?

[Flosshilde]

The Glasgow branch must have a much better classical selection than my local store, where it was virtually non-existent. Add to that the high prices, the staff who knew sweet FA about Classical music, and the ear-shredding noise that was played over the in-store audio system, and one needed no further encouragement to avoid the place like the plague.

One branch is OK-ish, the other is hopeless. (the third branch closed some time ago).

What's really annoying is the way the buyer buys 10 copies of one recording, rather than, say, 2 copies of five recordings.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

That's no way to talk about Elgar

Oooh, MrGongGong: the old ones are always the best.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Sadly, I think that the market is moving to downloads (hopefully FLAC or m4a at least!) but I do value having the CD media itself.

That is what people say, but in the classical market, downloads still have only a small percentage of the market. I think this is a bit of a red herring.
In the days of 78s, the discs were very fragile and quicly wore out or were broken. LPs were stronger, but the surface was extremely delicate, so a large percentage of them needed replacing after a while. Not so with CDs and downloads, which theoretically last forever. Furthermore, they are so easy to pirate, with copies indistinguishable from the originals. Frankly, I'm surprised the recording industry isn't in an even worse state.

As for HMV, I never go in the Scarborough or York stores for the reasons given by Mr Pee. They don't deserve to survive.