TrentVilla Posted January 20, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 20, 2013 HMV seem to have a few buyers interested, and not just asset strippers. Chatted to a bidder today, he thinks that the company that bought the Canadian stores is in pole position - they ditched the games and technology and went with music & film. It makes sense, I read recently that HMV still sell 37% of the UK's CD's there has to be a viable business there somewhere. It has just been run so badly in recent years it is untrue. I used to enjoy the experience of going in HMV, the staff were always around to help and were usually knowledgable (not compared to a independent music shop but still decent) and I could spend a lot of time in there browsing before buying. In recent years the stores have been horrible places with confusing layouts with no logical sense to them, the staff are few and far between with little knowledge other than the top 10 and where the tills are and when you do go to the tills you have to line up for ages. Then they try and avoid giving you a bag. Add to this the huge expensive stores in prime locations they always have that must cost a fortune and some of their horrific attempts to be 'modern' in a way only someone too old to have a clue can do and you have a doomed company. All things considered they deserve to go to the wall and those running the firm deserve to lose their jobs. I do have sympathy for the average worker though and hope someone takes over who has a clue what they are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 One of HMV's biggest challenges will be renegotiating rents with their landlords. Then again the way shops are shutting they may be in a strong position to renegotiate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted January 20, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 20, 2013 They should cut their loses on all/most of their stores and exit the agreements at the first opportunity, they are a legacy from a bygone era. They can no longer command such a high street presence, they don't need the same scale of stores. They needed to realise that a long time ago, if they don't now then whatever happens now will just be a stay of execution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 20, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 20, 2013 Went in HMV yesterday and it was absolutely heaving . Would be a sad loss if it went as its a well loved and useful shop. I like to buy a cd and I don't want to buy it in Tesco thanks. As the businesses stand right now, I wouldn't and haven't bought cd's in either for years. I buy my music either online or in my local legendary independent Music Store (Probe Records) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted January 21, 2013 Author VT Supporter Share Posted January 21, 2013 (edited) This is the dilemma. I'm part of the problem, in that I buy a lot of CDs & DVDs, but mostly online - because (a) it's much cheaper, and ( because I can find what I want. The HMVs of this world can only stock so much, and it will tend to be mass-market/"chart" stuff, which is not normally the stuff I'm interested in. When I've gone into HMV it's just on the off-chance of something in a sale bin, or back-filling odd gaps in the more mainstream part of my collection - e.g. I bought the first four Queen albums recently. I'm not a huge Queen fan, but they were going for a fiver, and at that price I'll bite. I could have got them as cheaply on Amazon, but it doesn't have that "see it, buy it" instant gratification that brightens up a lunchtime. Edited January 21, 2013 by mjmooney 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 This is the dilemma. I'm part of the problem, in that I buy a lot of CDs & DVDs, but mostly online - because (a) it's much cheaper, and ( because I can find what I want. The HMVs of this world can only stock so much, and it will tend to be mass-market/"chart" stuff, which is not normally the stuff I'm interested in. When I've gone into HMV it's just on the off-chance of something in a sale bin, or back-filling odd gaps in the more mainstream part of my collection - e.g. I bought the first four Queen albums recently. I'm not a huge Queen fan, but they were going for a fiver, and at that price I'll bite. I could have got them as cheaply on Amazon, but it doesn't have that "see it, buy it" instant gratification that brightens up a lunchtime. that pretty much sums it up HMV is competing with Tesco to sell NOW 93 or whatever number they are on. I'm not sure how much you want to be in a race to the bottom against Tesco. The other stuff is either not there or spectacularly hard to find or rudely priced. Then, every now and again they do the 3 cd's for a tenner game and you hunt around looking for 3 things you wouldn't otherwise have bought. 3 for a tenner is th only time I'd consider HMV - that, or needing to obtain trendy headphones for a teenager. Last year HMV had a 3 for 2 offer on headphones! I've never seen that before and I did wonder how many people other than parents of teenage triplets, could possibly use a 3 for 2 offer on bins. I'm lucky in that I've got a good relationship with my local independent (Spillers), so I can text or tweet something I'm looking for, they get it within a day or two, charge me 'regular punter' rates and I pick it up when I'm around. That way, I also get regular freebies from their sampler bin which gets me a wider knowledge of what's going on and gets them yet another sale a week later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 I would buy my cd's vinyl etc in an indie store if we had one ?? Used to love Reddington Rare Records in Brum but that went ages ago Also picking up bootlegs in Oasis market was brilliant but no longer there Are there any indie record stores in Brum anymore ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 It will be interesting to see how Findus come out of the Horsegate issue. They accounted for £220m lost in last year's accounts through "goodwill and brand impairment losses". The current issue will obviously cause more of the same. Over a quarter of their turnover comes from three customers, presumably the biggest supermarkets. They broke financial covenants three times in 15 months, and have been taken over by private equity firms who have no noticeable interest in food, but who have imposed a programme of cost cutting, including "process development". The Company is ultimately controlled by a group of investors including Lion Capital, Highbridge Capital, JP Morgan, Capvest and Northwestern Mutual Capital... The Group is backed by private equity and as is common with this business model a highproportion of the value of the enterprise value of the business is accountedfor by external debt. Following a period of declining EBITDA the Group failed to meet the financial covenants associated with bank loans for December 2011. This and the subsequent breach of the March and June 2012 covenants were waived by lenders. On 28 September 2012, several investors (Lion Capital, Highbridge Capital, JP Morgan, and Northwestern Mutual Capital) acquired control of the issued share capital of the Company... In 2011 the Group was successful in offsetting the majority of the adverse impact of costinflation through increased selling prices and an extensive programme of costreductions... The group delivered an operating loss of £241.1m (2010: operating profit £17.4mrestated), the decline versus prior year was largely due to goodwill andbrand impairment losses of £218.7m... The Findus Group continues to invest in product innovation and process development to deliver value to consumers... As a major food business, operating in many countries, the Findus Group hascommitted itself to act responsibly and to make a positive contribution tosociety, business and the environment. There are regular reviews by senior management to ensure that these high standards are consistently achieved... This approach influences all aspects of our business.It affects the quality of the food we produce, the way we interact with people and communities and the management of our operations andtheir environmental impact... We aim to operate with integrity and respect for people. This means both our own employees and everyone who comes into contact with the Findus Group, from those who supply us with goods and services to the communities who live close to our factories... At the Findus Group, we are committed to offering our consumers a range of great tasting and nutritious products, ensuring nutrition is accessible to everyone. Our approach to nutrition, ingredients and labelling is to ensure that every day we seek to make great tasting food that is developed with the nutritional needs of consumers in mind... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 What's this "independent store" thing I keep reading about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted February 8, 2013 Author VT Supporter Share Posted February 8, 2013 What's this "independent store" thing I keep reading about What the Americans would call "mom and pop stores", i.e. not big corporate chains like Virgin, HMV, Out Price, Tower, etc. Small privately owned businesses that happen to sell records. Usually owned and staffed by enthusiasts who know what they are talking about, as opposed to generic shop assistants who may as well be selling frozen burgers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 What's this "independent store" thing I keep reading about What the Americans would call "mom and pop stores", i.e. not big corporate chains like Virgin, HMV, Out Price, Tower, etc. Small privately owned businesses that happen to sell records. Usually owned and staffed by enthusiasts who know what they are talking about, as opposed to generic shop assistants who may as well be selling frozen burgers. I know what it is, idiot : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Add REPUBLIC to the list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islingtonclaret Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 What's this "independent store" thing I keep reading about Oh mooney. He even put the independant store bit in quotation marks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted February 14, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted February 14, 2013 Add REPUBLIC to the list Shame, I like it in there, decent T Shirts for not very much money. But have noticed their stuff was getting cheaper and cheaper so this doesn't surprise me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Seems like business rates and council rent are what are killing a lot of the high street stores and nothing is being done about it. It'll keep happening surely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Bit like Council Tax You pay your tax on salary all year + NI etc then get hammered on council tax road tax vat fuel and booze duty etc etc etc I reckon overall youre looking at a 60% av tax rate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Bit like Council Tax You pay your tax on salary all year + NI etc then get hammered on council tax road tax vat fuel and booze duty etc etc etc I reckon overall youre looking at a 60% av tax rate Yep they pillage us for nearly everything we earn and still can't run a country from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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