HMV

Out of context: Reply #15

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  • Horp0

    They did put a large foot on the throats of independents, but I doubt the independents would have survived until now anyway. One of the longest standing and most respected independents here in Brighton disappeared within the last 12 months... Revolver Records... and I'd wager that was a result of online rather than the two HMV stores in Brighton. Revolver's stock in trade was hugely different to HMVs.

    I hadn't been into a HMV for a few years, but went into the main Brighton branch over Christmas. I could not believe the state of the shop. The had attempted to evolve and diversify I believe (in response to earlier comments) and had given over 50% of the store racks to second hand CDs, DVDs and hardware. Ironically it felt a tiny little bit like the first days of Urban Outfitters, when it was largely second hand, and (briefly) felt like a cool new un-brand. Not a good fit for HMV though... it just smacked of desperation.

    They hacked the store into 50% jumble sale, 30% electronic gadgets and peripherals, and 20% was left for the core product of music. The music was so tightly crammed in that it largely all had to be re-classified as Pop/Rock, with a few nods here and there to Blues, Classical, Easy Listening, Jazz etc etc. Pop/Rock was the dominant category though, and the stuff they'd got listed under that heading was amusing and alarming in equal measure.

    I care that retail is dying. I don't care that HMV is dying however.

    • 20% to angry birds merchandise from what I sawanimatedgif

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