chrisp65 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Listening on the radio this morning and it appears HMV is on a bit of a perpetual downward spiral. Owes plenty of money, share price tanked and the banks are making it sell off any profitable areas to generate cash. Well I'm no financial whizz, but with the profitable bits gone how would that be a long term plan? I went in one recently for the first time in a long time (which kind of sums up their problem - if they can't get a music loving dinosaur like me in there they have no hope). Struck me that unless I wanted an over priced South Park novelty tee shirt or a 2 for 1 offer on headphones I was in the wrong shop. Seriously, 2 for 1 on headphones? In what bizarre parallel universe are there a significant number of people looking to buy two pairs of bins? How would you save HMV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irreverentad Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I would close down all of the shops and invest into the online side. I would offer swifter delivery and go cheaper than amazon. In reality it would be difficult to make it profitable without getting rid of the stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted December 19, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted December 19, 2011 Beyond saving as a high street entity imo. Online they have the problem of not having the presence the real big online boys do, nor the money to compete with them. They will also get hit online in the new year (along with everyone else) when the Channel Islands loophole gets closed. They're ****. No-one I knew ever bought anything from HMV unless it was in one of their 3 for 2 DVD sales. They were often one of the most expensive places to buy - go into a store today with a list of items you might like (particularly boxsets) and you'll be left spluttering at the price. I've only used them recently because of one thing that sort of makes them somewhat desirable - they've latched onto the Steelbook blu-ray interest and get lots of exclusives because of it (you can see how important this has become to them when you notice the front end of their blu-ray page online is absolutely filled with Steelbooks). Sadly thats a niche market, very niche, and not enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted December 19, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted December 19, 2011 It's gone beyond saving imo. They've well and truly missed the boat on emerging technologies over the last 10-15 years and their stuff is so hideously overpriced it's untrue. The only way they survive is by relying on those who know no better. Even the convenience factor of the high street is on the wane. Only themselves to blame, unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Online they have the problem of not having the presence the real big online boys do, nor the money to compete with them. They will also get hit online in the new year (along with everyone else) when the Channel Islands loophole gets closed. what loophole is that? i agree HMV is very very expensve i dont go there anymore if they go bust more unemployment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted December 19, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted December 19, 2011 what loophole is that? Part of the reason things like DVDs and the like have been quite cheap to buy online is that companies based their operations in the Channel Islands which had a law in place stating that VAT on items under a certain value (until recently it was £18 I thinl reduced in the last couple of months to £15) could be avoided. The Chancellor is closing that in the New Year, which means prices will rise or retailers will take a hit to maintain custom. HMV did it, Play pretty much made a business out of being based in Jersey, Tesco Entertainment is based there, etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irreverentad Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Online they have the problem of not having the presence the real big online boys do, nor the money to compete with them. They will also get hit online in the new year (along with everyone else) when the Channel Islands loophole gets closed. what loophole is that? i agree HMV is very very expensve i dont go there anymore if they go bust more unemployment... I didn't think they had staff!! Everytime I am after help in HMV there is no fecker there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Part of the reason things like DVDs and the like have been quite cheap to buy online is that companies based their operations in the Channel Islands which had a law in place stating that VAT on items under a certain value (until recently it was £18 I thinl reduced in the last couple of months to £15) could be avoided. The Chancellor is closing that in the New Year, which means prices will rise or retailers will take a hit to maintain custom. HMV did it, Play pretty much made a business out of being based in Jersey, Tesco Entertainment is based there, etc etc. meh what a buffon, surely its better that people spend to boost the economy? looks like better stock up on dvds before january 1st then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 It's worse than a Buffon, Dem; in my eyes it's a full-on Peruzzi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted December 19, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted December 19, 2011 The loophole **** other, often smaller, retailers because they couldn't open up operations on the Channel Islands, so it meant they couldn't compete with them, so while it sucks for the consumer, it's probably a good thing for businesses, as it allows the less fortunate companies to level the playing field a little. I'm sure the cost to the government by the exploitation of it also came into account a little Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 We had a couple of HMV's in Boston back in the 90's-early 2000's. Both long gone now, but I miss going to an actual record store, and listening to the CD's, and whatnot. Don't know if you guys had Tower Records, but they were huge here, and they're finished. We had a Virgin Megastore replace a Tower, but it went out of business in under two years. Between MP3 downloads and online CD stores, the old fashioned record store is obsolete, just like video rental stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irreverentad Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 We had Andy's Records in Suffolk. I heard a stat the other week that 75% of albums are still purchased in physical form as opposed to downloads. Is it Supermarkets and Amazon that are killing them as opposed to Apple? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted December 19, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted December 19, 2011 We had Andy's Records in Suffolk. I heard a stat the other week that 75% of albums are still purchased in physical form as opposed to downloads. Is it Supermarkets and Amazon that are killing them as opposed to Apple?Amazon in my case (supermarkets would sell nothing that I would want). In the late 90s I was building up my CD collection of mainstream back catalogue stuff, and bought a lot from HMV, mainly in the 3 for [£ whatever] sales. But for at least five years now, I've been buying much more "niche" albums, and there is no way HMV would stock them. 95% of my CDs (and DVDs and books) are now bought from Amazon or Amazon resellers. The few independent specialist record stores that were worth using are now nearly all gone (although there are still a few secondhand places left). I do miss the the good shops, but as long as I can get hold of the stuff I want (and cheaply!) I'm happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oaks Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Not really people tend to buy the odd track rather than the whole album, but either way downloads, online shops and supermarkets have dented HMV into an unworkable business a lot like woolworths. And as already stated they are miles behind the big online players, and it would really surprise me if we see anything substantial from HMV in 3-4 years time(although I'm sure I said that 2 years ago, because they are so expensive) downloading games and films will be the final nail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDrums Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 They never changed with the times and still had ridiculous prices. Its their own fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CastleBromVilla Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I've got £70 store credit from trading in games, what happens if they go bump, would i lose the lot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted December 19, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 19, 2011 They won't go bust overnight, tonight - maybe Jan sales may present an opportunity to spend the credits? [don't take financial advice from football forums] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunRickyRun Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I've got £70 store credit from trading in games, what happens if they go bump, would i lose the lot? Pretty much. You're effectively a creditor so would only receive the same pence in the pound that other creditors get once the company is wound up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted December 19, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 19, 2011 Won't be missed imo. Can't remember the last time I bought something from them and their outdated business model Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Agree Bicks. Although it is a store I would miss for DVDs - I stopped shopping there when they stopped selling Vinyl Still think they should offer an in-store download service, plug in your MP3 player and download tracks etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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