Re: HMV in administration.
Last Saturday I took a trip to London and visited HMV's famous store on Oxford Street - "The home of entertainment since 1921" - but maybe not for much longer.
I've attached a few pictures.
The shop has a lovely vintage neon sign outside. On the inside, there were some photos of the shop in its heyday, from when you could buy a wind-up gramophone and some 78s to go with it, when you could listen to a record before buying, and when The Beatles dropped in to the shop to sign records. All history now.
It's sad, but inevitable. Sales of physical media now account for a much smaller proportion of music sales, despite a revival of vinyl records. It's just not enough to keep a whole chain of shops going. Perhaps a few of the busiest HMV shops like Oxford Street could be saved. Let's hope so. But HMV are being squeezed on all sides: falling physical sales, high running costs for their city centre shops, increased competition from online sellers like Amazon who can offer lower prices and wider selection, plus competition from supermarkets. My local Sainsburys and Asda sell games, DVDs, CDs and even vinyl records along with groceries. All this has eaten away HMV's profits.
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