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Old 29th Dec 2018, 3:09 pm   #24
Junk Box Nick
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: West Midlands, UK.
Posts: 1,571
Default Re: HMV in administration.

HMV, like much of the traditional high street has had its day. The array of small grocery, butcher's , baker's, etc., shops I remember as a child was unsurped by supermarkets long ago, though a few still remain - there will always be a niche market for some goods.

With the arrival of the web, records, CDs, books, etc., are online. You can find more there than you ever will in a shop, though the joy of physical browsing is now long gone. The last time I went into a high street record shop is over ten years ago. I used to work regularly in a reasonably upmarket district and I would browse when I went to get my lunchtime sandwich. Dangerous to my pocket as I often came away with something! plus there was always a chat to be had with the proprietor. As soon as the lease ended the shop closed. You could see the pattern emerging. The fishmonger gave up his shop and returned weekly to serve his loyal customers from a van. When a commercial solicitor friend told me of the sort of rent and rates payable on this street I was astonished that so many shops lasted as long as they did.

A high street in another suburb not far away from the above but more down market has whole lines of shops - I have counted seven or eight in a row that are empty. It's time to convert some of these properties to residential use.

The only book shop in my local town is a remainder store. I often look in. The town is awash with charity shops. I can name at least ten off the top of my head. Then there is the modern day vesion of 'uncle's'. The charity shops were once a happy hunting ground for vinyl but those days have gone.
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