His Master's Voice is singing a sad, sad song -- the dog-tricking disc-flogger is selling off a huge amount of stock on the cheap, reportedly to raise quick money for creditors. Extending its 'big sale' for at least another month means a whole basement of bargains, but is the retailer in real trouble?
Go to HMV.com today and you'll see it plastered with 'big sale' banners, which have been up since Boxing Day. Retailers all cut prices on stuff they didn't flog before Christmas, but the sales usually end come the first week of the new year.
HMV this week announced another flog-off -- a Blue Cross Sale -- that starts this Saturday, seamlessly continuing its new year sale for another month with 25 per cent promised off "a wide range of titles and products".
Apparently it's "not [its] standard January sale, but trying [a] new tack to generate cash to meet bank covenants", according to ITV News' Laura Kuenssberg. "Not good," she adds sagely.
"We thought we'd freshen our promotional mix up a bit and try something a bit different that will hopefully stand out from all the other sale offers on the high street right now," an HMV spokesman told me.
The company has been in crisis talks over Christmas with creditors and suppliers, according to Retail Week. It warned in December that it would probably not raise enough dosh pre-Chrimbo to meet its debt obligations (aka bank covenants), The Scotsman reported.
Media companies have bent over backwards to keep HMV going, desperate for somewhere on the high street to flog their shiny discs. For us customers, the ongoing sale means low prices and the survival of somewhere we can still pay cash, rather than having to buy with a credit card online.
Scorching deals on geeky treats currently include the whole James Bond series (up to Question of Sport) on DVD for £49, Big Bang Theory seasons 1-5 for £30, the Back to the Future trilogy for £8, all the Terminator films for £12, Drive for £3, Prometheus for £7 and, er, Men in Black 1 and 2 for a fiver. Games on offer include Need for Speed Most Wanted for £20 and Dishonored for £28.
Most of these prices are being matched (or even bettered) by Amazon though. Whether it will continue to stay as low as HMV into February and beyond remains to be seen.
All retailers of physical goods are feeling the pinch as Brits increasingly opt for the convenience of downloads -- we spent £1bn on digital media last year. Even online shops are struggling, with Play.com yesterday announcing it would stop selling stuff itself and just be a marketplace. Jessops also fell into administration this week.
What do you think HMV can do to stay afloat? Do you think it's offering a wide enough range of stuff, or is it impossible to match online stores such as Amazon? Analyse and verbalise in the comments, or over on our cut-price Facebook page.
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Comments 15
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jopov123 10 January, 2013 17:53
HMV has always been more expensive. We had a Virgin (then Zavvi) shop with an HMV nearby and no-one went into HMV due to ridiculous prices. HMV took the shop over when Zavvi failed and even now in the 'sale' anything I want has been hugely overpriced considering what Amazon or other retailers can offer me. I am amazed they have lasted this long and that's only because in a lot of towns they were the only music/film retailer left.
anonymous 10 January, 2013 17:55
Customer service is paramount and ease of buying. HMV tends to have huge stores that are so complicated to navigate and find the dvd you want that you'd rather go and buy it online with an easy search and delivery. At some of their stores DVDs are just piled up somewhere in a stack with not a customer service person in sight. You can sample music online now so it makes it easier to try and buy rather than sifting though rows and rows of CDs and buying ont he basis of a jacket cover. The only way is to make the experience more interactive, easier and fun for the visitors.
anonymous 10 January, 2013 19:30
I don't understand why HMV didn't radically change their stores after the advent of online competitors killing their sales. Surely all the CDs should have been scaled back and new tech where you can go in with your smartphone, see something you like and download it quickly over provided wifi from hmv online after having sampled it - quick and cheap.
They should have looked more like Apple stores and been appealing to go into and places to hang out. I can't see hmv lasting much longer as unless you are from the older generation you don't buy music on cd's anymore you download it.
anonymous 10 January, 2013 23:04
Buying online and getting snail mail to deliver is boring, id rather walk in and buy from hmv.. Downloading is geeky. My laptop broke down and I lost my downloads since then I only buy cd's from hmv.
anonymous 10 January, 2013 23:33
I worked at HMV over Christmas the store was always busy and we never stopped, I got asked by so many customers if they were closing down but the amount of business they were doing I just couldn't see it happening, things are even worse than anyone thought or it's to make more money by having a blue cross sale. The amount of stock they have out the back and in the stock room was just plain silly.
The things that let down HMV is the customer service and lack of aftercare to customers, also it's a maze to find CD's DVD's etc, I found music in the wrong sections and the A-Z is just confusing, also if you shop online you will most certainly find it cheaper! I think it's more about it's quicker to go into a shop to buy something rather than waiting for delivery.
anonymous 11 January, 2013 09:21
I need this shop to stay open...when going shopping with the Mrs going round all her shops all we have is Game and HMV...we need shops like this for mens sanity instead of walking round womens clothes shops all day!!!
iam a wp7 11 January, 2013 10:13
I would hate to see this shop go. The Trafford centre and the arndale are getting more and more dull without game, if HMV goes then there is nothing for me to do while she wonders round clothes shops :(
anonymous 11 January, 2013 13:04
Can't say I have seen James Bond - Question of Sport before...
Nick Hide 11 January, 2013 15:44
@anon
Sorry, that's a silly Mark Kermode reference. It's what he calls Quantum of Solace. (I imagine you figured that bit out.)
anonymous 11 January, 2013 16:11
Comparing HMV with Amazon is unfair. HMV has to pay for big shiny stores on the High Street and hey, it pays taxes as well as far as I know, which is more than you can say for some...
It's really sad that music shops are disappearing. They used to be places you could go to hang out, browse and soak up the atmosphere. At this rate we'll just sit at home on the Internet.
I hope they survive but I doubt they will. PC retailers are next.
Matteo Paparoni 11 January, 2013 17:00
HMV is a great shop, there are many reasons why you should support it instead of Amazon:
1. It does not avoid paying tax
2. It employs a lot more people than Amazon do, if they were to close, the high street would just be a place full of coffee shops.
3. HMV donate money every year to Teenage Cancer charities, Amazon do not mention anywhere that they donate money to charity.
4. It is the LAST Entertainment shop on the high street,
if it closed what would be left, coffee shops?
OK, some of the products cost more than buying from Amazon, because of the reasons above I think it is a good idea to buy there instead of Amazon, you can make up your own mind.
Matteo Paparoni 11 January, 2013 17:00
HMV is a great shop, there are many reasons why you should support it instead of Amazon:
1. It does not avoid paying tax
2. It employs a lot more people than Amazon do, if they were to close, the high street would just be a place full of coffee shops.
3. HMV donate money every year to Teenage Cancer charities, Amazon do not mention anywhere that they donate money to charity.
4. It is the LAST Entertainment shop on the high street,
if it closed what would be left, coffee shops?
OK, some of the products cost more than buying from Amazon, because of the reasons above I think it is a good idea to buy there instead of Amazon, you can make up your own mind.
Howard10000 11 January, 2013 17:21
Don't be so down.
We'll still have WHSMITH to hang around in while 'she' hangs around clothes shops.
anonymous 11 January, 2013 17:42
Before i go any further i want to see i hope that HMV survive. Whilst I agree with a lot of what people have said above supporting HMV no business can stay the same and ignore the changing world, especially where technology is concerned. They need to inovate, stay ahead of the game, be market leaders, not followers when a lot of people have moved away.
I'm sure HMV was busy over xmas, I went in and do think there is a need for such a store on the high street. But having said that i didn't really buy that much in there (i didn't go home and buy it from Amazon either though before anyone comments). HMV needs to take some market share back from the likes of Amazon and their stores that worked in the 90s have not changed that much since then and this might be their downfall. Also with the squeeze on people's incomes people will shop around for the cheapest prices, like it or not. They won't think which is the more ethical place to buy, or which company puts more money back into the UK (unless HMV shove this down everyone's throats in advertising, which might not be a bad idea).
The shops need to be more customer friendly, not just piles and piles of CDs and DVDs, but somewhere young and old people like to hang out, employees with genuine enthusiasm for and knowledge of music and film that are available on the shop floor. Whether you like Apple stores or not the way you have helpers walking around, where you can talk to them about the products and even pay them without having to queue up i think is a great idea and should have been in HMV stores years ago. And whilst downloading isn't everyone's cup of tea it's the way a large proportion of consumers buy their music now. If i am in hmv and see something i might like on CD i don't want the CD and all the packaging that entails, if there was a way in the shop to download it from HMV i'd probably do that, but there isn't, not the store i was in anyway. I just feel unless they update and try new things they will soon be another victim of the changing times and the times we live in.
anonymous 14 January, 2013 19:44
Im afraid there is NO way out for this Company, They have far far to much Debt, Such a shame
they should have been more competative with the on-line Co's. They have over 3 hundred shops
and 4000 people employed.