Sheffield gone which is sad for me. Looks like York! is my local branch.
I think this may have put the nail in the coffin for both Devon stores. They are both āmallā stores and Iām guessing (though I canāt say for certain) that the stores in Truro and Taunton are more traditional high street.
Sad to see Oxford St go, but Fopp in Covent Garden is still going to stay open.
Apparently the guy whoās taken over is a vinyl nut, so that bodes well. His Canadian record store chain has done very well.
Thereās a good piece in the FT today:
https://www.ft.com/content/e2454f74-291e-11e9-a5ab-ff8ef2b976c7
1 Like
Sadly, it looks like most of the Fopp stores are going, apart from London. The Fopp store in Manchester had a little bit of the feel of an independent retailer.
2 Likes
Good to see the one at Gunwharf in Portsmouth is staying. Phew!
1 Like
IIRC the Milton Keynes branch did the same, and is also spared the dreaded axe. That said I donāt have the sense of doom prevalent on here. My Gt Grandfather was the village blacksmith. Heās not now, only partly as a result of no longer being with us.Things change, sometimes for the better sometimes not. Horses still have shoes made & fitted; music is still available. Luckily I donāt care too much for fondling cardboard sleeves or wondering why an LP is Ā£24 when the CD is a fiver on the rack opposite. Itās very sad for the people who lose their jobs over this, but HMV closing isnāt the end of music.
Couldnāt see any info on the HMV on-line store (delivered vinyl was a great service). There is a placeholder for it on the HMV web site.
Maybe once the dust has settled and the new owners had time to settle in, weāll see re-emergence of the on-line Store?
ATB. George.
Good to see the Truro store remaining open, shame about Plymouth as it was a bigger store with a lot more stock to tempt the browser.
My guess, as mentioned earlier, is that its to do with rent/rates. Exeter has gone as well, both āmallā stores.
So I see that both Bristol and Bath HMVs are set to close as will as the Fopp store in Bristol. So thatās it then for this region. Amazon here we come.
A bit in the press today:
The music mogul has has compared record shopping to a ātreasure huntā, leading customers to something unexpected, and claims the key to making a music shop work is offering customers depth of choice.
He told Spill Magazine that while most shops might offer Fleetwood Mac fans a greatest hits collection or the 1977 classic album Rumours, Sunrise stocks a greater choice. āRather than having what I call the ābasicsā, we would offer Tusk and Tango in the Night. It takes it deeper and it gives the customer that assortment in the store.ā
Putman has also been a supporter of aspiring musicians, hosting a competition that offered unsigned Canadian artists the chance to get their music stocked in Sunrise stores across the country.
Sounds like the sort of thing weāve been saying was needed.
1 Like
George, you can also buy used albums from discogs and e-bay.
Thank you Steve!
ATB. George.
1 Like
Hard to believe all the Bristol and Bath stores are not profitable.
For new I recommend Rough Trade in Bristol, second hand there are many, especially Plastic Wax.
1 Like
You And Yours on R4 are now discussing this very subject, the HMV takeover.
For late arrivals this is Feb 6th, from 12:30 - 15 minutes into the programme.
So sad to see Amazon benefitting from thisā¦ reduction of choice is never a good thing. I get the reason, and maybe if mega conglomerates paid their fair share of tax, howeverā¦ even buying off private sellers on eBay or Music Magpie, Dodax, Discogs, etc. may be better.
ATB. George.