Wed, Jan 05, 2011 | 08:34 GMT
HMV to close 60 stores after UK retail slump
HMV said today it’s to close 60 UK stores, following confirmation yesterday that British retail was 13 percent year-on-year, GamesIndustry reports.
Sales of entertainment products in general have been weak in the fiscal year to date, said the retailer, which also blamed poor weather conditions over the holiday period.
For the five weeks to January 1, sales were down 12.9 percent on last year, and down 13.3 per cent for the 10 weeks to January 1.
“Whilst HMV has had a challenging year to date, it remains a profitable and cash-generative business and a powerful entertainment brand,” said CEO Simon Fox.
“The pace of change in the markets in which we operate underlines the urgency with which we must continue to transform this business.”
It was confirmed yesterday that British game sales for 2010 were down to £2.875 billion, compared to the £3.3 billion taken in the previous year.
7 comments
#1
Blerk
05/01/11, 8:41 am
Ouch.
Having said that, I think I’ve been in an actual HMV store about twice in the last 12 months, and it was hell both times. Everything I bought from them last year came from their online store.
#2
barchetta
05/01/11, 8:54 am
Economic conditions + online retailing + supermarket muscle is something of a perfect storm for specialist retailers. I don’t really see a way back for them either…
#3
Suikoden Fan
05/01/11, 10:30 am
tbh the instore pricing game be worse than games at times, and on anime its fucking atrocious they were selling a box set for £50 that can be bought online elsewhere for £18
#4
Psychotext
05/01/11, 10:37 am
I was in HMV a few days ago and I found myself mentioning to the better half that it all felt a bit prehistoric now. I just don’t buy films / music in the same way that I used to… and I’m sure games will go the same way for me at some point.
#5
Dannybuoy
05/01/11, 10:38 am
Music and games are dying of HMV
#6
jnms
05/01/11, 10:48 am
HMV are greedy bastards. Why would anyone seriously pay between £14.99 and £17.99 for a DVD?!
#7
freedoms_stain
05/01/11, 11:03 am
For me there’s simply no incentive to buy retail anymore. Before xmas I noticed hmv had a new record by one of my favorite niche artists in stock (Agalloch). I was soo tempted to buy it, but I whipped out my phone and saw Amazon were doing it more than 4 quid cheaper and walked away.
For games I have a gamestracker account, any game I want I add and they send me emails when they find new best prices from online retailers, so generally speaking I have a fair idea of how much the games I want are going to cost me online. So when I’m in a retail store and they’re charging almost twice for used copies what I know you can get the same game for new online, I just don’t bother.
When I was a student I used to use the hmv website a lot because their pricing was on par with Amazon et al and I could use my student discount card on top out that, but the last few times I’ve had a look I’ve noticed the prices resemble in-store prices more than their competitors in the online space to the degree that hmv have fallen off my list of sites to check when I’m looking for something.