HMV Collapsing

[freesia 714]

Now there would be fewer places to get international music if it really collapse.

HMV has confirmed it will not be accepting gift cards or vouchers from customers as the retailer prepared to collapse into administration.

The company confirmed its intentions after a board meeting, as exclusively revealed by Sky's City Editor Mark Kleinman .

The chief executive of HMV - which employs 4,350 people - said it was "business as usual" at the chain's 238 stores, which will remain open while administrators Deloitte attempt to find a buyer.

Trevor Moore told Sky News he was "absolutely confident" about the future of the business, but added: "It does require a number of significant changes in the business, and those changes we’re very clear about."

He said: "We would hope to find a prospective buyer that could work with us to enable me to deliver those changes and ensure that HMV – which is one of the consumer's 10 most favourite stores in the UK remains on the high streets that we operate in."

A company statement said it had ultimately failed to meet the conditions of its bank loans, and trading in HMV's ordinary shares had ceased.

It said the business "faced material uncertainties" and would probably "not comply with its banking covenants" at the end of January.

Confirming the appointment of administrators "with immediate effect", the statement added: "The board regrets to announce that it has been unable to reach a position where it feels able to continue to trade outside of insolvency protection."

Mr Moore urged staff at the chain to support each other despite being faced with an uncertain future.

"My message is that it’s critically important – even more now than ever before – that we remain focussed on the job at hand," he said.

"That we engage with our customers, we look after each other, support each other, and engage ... to ensure the business continues to trade successfully."

He added: "As far as I’m concerned, right now it’s business as usual - HMV's doors are wide open, we have stock to sell, we have teams to staff our stores and we have a business to run."

Celebrities have been among those sharing their memories of the iconic chain.

BBC 6Music DJ Lauren Laverne tweeted: "Long time since i was in #HMV, but I remember it well… RIP."

Also on Twitter, rapper Professor Green posted: "hmv bankrupt. we may as well just give up on any medium that involves hard copy and get on with it. #sadtimes."

And fellow artist Sway added: "Just a thought. If all of the artists and labels in the UK all made a small donation do you think it would be enough to save #HMV?"

Retail expert Mary Portas posted: "HMV was a brilliant business that was a great part of our Highstreets. So sad to see this one go."

The retailer, which has struggled for several years in the face of online competition, had announced last week an additional sale at its stores in a last ditch effort to raise cash but its £176.1m debt pile was too great for the move to have much impact.

Last year, the company sold off its most profitable arm, its live music business, as it attempted to slash what it owed.

In January 2011, suppliers including Universal Music came to HMV's rescue with a deal that helped the retailer shed some of its debt, but they are understood to have dismissed requests for more financial help earlier this month.

Analysts suggest the business model was already doomed - squeezed by internet retailers and supermarkets whose scale enables them to offer CDs and DVDs at cheaper prices.

Source - http://uk.news.yahoo.com/hmv-vouchers-i ... nance.html

[Number Girl 48]

Eh, not good . . . :/

[CAT5 9075]

oh man, HMV is my favorite site to order Japanese music from. I've likely spent thousands of dollars there.. =/

[orangetarts 249]

Thank god I really only use CDJapan...gonna pray to jesus that one wont fall this way too :/

[Zeus 7997]

Yet another casualty from music distribution going digital.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Yeah, I've read about this, pretty sad.

Eventhough I hated the Japanese HMV (too fussy and expensive), I loved to browse their 'real-life' stores whenever I visited the UK (CDs were so cheap there too!).

[sai 868]

I browsed their stores from time to time when in the UK, always had lots of fun doing so. I hope they'll manage, getting your hands on physical CDs nowadays all seems to get harder. Though I've always preferred real CDs over digital files, especially because when you rip them to your computer you can choose your own bitrate, while with iTunes you're stuck with a 256 AAC rip. Unless we're talking about bandcamp. But anyway, really sad.

[clow_eriol 240]

fuck... I usually bought there european editions, This is really sad and bad news.

[Champ213 1858]

oh man, HMV is my favorite site to order Japanese music from. I've likely spent thousands of dollars there.. =/

If you mean Japanese HMV, I wouldn't worry about that. HMV Japan is not affiliated with the now bankrupt HMV group.

In July 2007, HMV Japan, which operates 62 shops, was sold to DSM Investment Catorce. The stores and HMV Japan website continue to trade as HMV, but is no longer owned by HMV Group. [...] On 28 October 2010 the Japanese convenience store giant Lawson acquired all shares of HMV Japan from Daiwa Securities SMBCPI for ¥ 1.8 billion. KK HMV Japan became a part of Lawson, and was renamed KK Lawson HMV Entertainment (株式会社 ローソンHMVエンタテイメント) on 1 December in the same year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMV_Group#Japan

So yeah, it's a completely different company, even though they use the same letters.

[sai 868]

The same happened when all the Virgin stores closed. It seems that stores like that don't make enough money, though I personally always loved stores like these.

[Guest Magatsu]

oh well can happen.

But there are still enough places where you can order music.

for EU releases I still can buy at large.be and bol.com

and a few other shops.

[x_dak_x 5]

well isn't this dandy? funny how in graphic design class we'd design cd music covers.... with stores like hmv closing and the digital age approaching, what will become of this artform?

[LIDL 692]

is this for USA only?

cos I see they going fine in Hong Kong and Singapore when I went there in November and December last year respectively.

Asians still appreciates physical CDs.

[freesia 714]

They found buyers for now and I read that vouchers and gift cards are acceptable now.

 

Bankrupt retailer HMV finds buyer

 

London, Jan 23 (IANS) Bankrupt British CD and DVD
retailer HMV has its debt purchased by restructuring specialist Hilco,
easing concerns that the star retailer would disappear from high
streets.

HMV moved into administration Jan 14, after not getting loans from
banks with its heavy debt and bad performance, reported Xinhua.

The white knight Hilco, which already purchased HMV Canada in 2011,
has bought HMV's debt from the latter's lenders, Lloyds Banking Group
and the Royal Bank of Scotland. The move paves way for Hilco to take
full control of HMV.

"Hilco believes there to be a viable underlying HMV business and will
now be working closely with Deloitte, who, as administrators, are
reviewing the business to determine future options," the company said in
a statement.

"Stores continue to trade and at this time we remain hopeful of
securing a long-term future for HMV," said Nick Edwards, HMV's joint
administrator at Deloitte.

The 92-year-old HMV has been hit by competition from online rivals, supermarkets, and illegal music and film downloads.

It is the last nationwide music products retailer in Britain, with
223 stores and about 4,000 staff members. It also has stores in Iceland,
Hong Kong and Singapore.

Earlier reports said about 50 organizations or rich individuals
expressed interest in buying the entire business or part of HMV,
including industry leaders Universal Music and Sony.

 

source: http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/bankrupt-retailer-hmv-finds-buyer-075641573.html

 

[buster 3]

hmmm, i did buy a lot of cds when i was in london. too bad, they had a rly nice collections of international musics

but with the age of cyberspace, there r a lot of other ways to get my hands on cds.

 

sux if there r layoffs, but as a consumer the impact won't reach me ^^