THE NEW MUSICAL BOX

7th February - HMV Store Closures Announced

Behind-the-scene negotiations continue to enable Hilco to take formal control of HMV, but the first visible signs of change have emerged today. The administrators - Deloittes  have announced the closure of 66 stores over the next two months. This follows a string of job losses at HMV's head office and brings the likely job-loss total to around 1100. Looking at the list of affected stores, it's clear that some of the larger out-of-town sites have been targeted as have stores in towns and cities with more than one outlet. The retail park sites are too large and expensive for the future model that will emerge (probably a move back to it core business of music and DVDs/blueray) even if they (currently) have a better and wider range of music available.

Edinburgh - Five HMV stores to close

Our nearest - Bournemouth Castlepoint - is to go, but just look at Edinburgh: five sites are set to close, so one assumes that there's at least one site remaining in the Scottish capital.

Here's the full list:

England

Ashton-under-Lyne, Barnsley, Bayswater, Bexleyheath, Birkenhead, Birmingham Fort, Blackburn, Boston, Bournemouth Castlepoint, Bracknell, Burton-upon-Trent, Camberley, Chesterfield, Croydon Centrale, Durham, Fulham, Huddersfield, Leamington Spa, Leeds White Rose, Loughborough, Luton, Manchester 90, Moorgate, Orpington, Rochdale, Scunthorpe, South Shields, Speke Park, St Albans, St Helens, Stockton-on-Tees, Tamworth, Teesside, Telford, Trocadero, Wakefield, Walsall, Walton-on-Thames, Wandsworth, Warrington, Watford, Wellingborough, Wigan, Wood Green, Workington

Scotland

Dumfries, Edinburgh Fort, Edinburgh Gyle Centre, Edinburgh Ocean, Edinburgh Princes Street, Edinburgh St James, Falkirk, Glasgow - Fort, Glasgow - Silverburn, Glasgow Braehead, Kirkcaldy

Northern Ireland

Ballymena, Belfast Boucher Road, Belfast Forestside, Coleraine, Craigavon, Derry, Lisburn, Newry, Newtownabbey

Wales

Wrexham

What Next?

There's no word yet on the nine-store sub-brand Fopp, outlets which have a more focused approach to music and movies as well as a better understanding of their record-buying customers. I'd expect further closures in the next six months, but it does all depend upon the outcome of discussions with record distributors (the extent of credit lines made available) and landlords (the degree to which they will be flexible in granting rent reductions or holidays).

As for the public, those who like to browse stores and buy physical releases, well - it looks like there's a reprieve for now.

Alan

7th February 2013