HMV are around 15% of my company's turnover in the UK. I dodged a bullet in only just starting out when EUK went bust, Zavvi too. With play.com changing and now HMV going, it's a tough world of film distribution. Most of us indies were on "consignment" too, so I reckon myself and the film labels we represent are in the hole for a ton of money.
It means staff reviews, calls to the administrator and not the kind of pain you want after you've just grown 200% year on year and staffed yourself accordingly.
We sold our products to HMV at around the same price as the Supermarkets, yet HMV would always be the most expensive retailer around.
They lost their actual business plan and focus about three years ago. Fuckers even asked us, as late as Thursday last week to join the blue cross sale, which we agreed to and now every unit sold in that is going to the banks too!
I've been aware it could happen for ages but you pray to god it isn't going to.
But now it has .....
And I'll have to deal with the fall out tomorrow morning with worried staff, creditors and the like
Arse
A friend of mine says it could fuck the independent fil industry as alot of films make money on DVDs as the cinema release is more of an advert and makes no money. Whereas people will then go to the likes of HMV and buy the DVD and the supermarkets etc wont stock specialist stuff.
Charity shops are the future. Those with a job will buy from Amazon. Those without a job will either be forced to work in the charity shops for free or will buy the stuff that those in a job donate to the charity shop.
Unfortunately so. Was chatting with a mate last night, who had worked for years for an independant film-maker in SoHo. He's been out of work for over a year now and working as many bar shifts as he can get. Had been invited out with old colleagues last week and they were talking about hiring and asking him to come back - which he would have jumped at. This week, half of those people have now lost their jobs on the back of the HMV news.
Seconded. HMV's trade mark alone must have been worth millions. If they had an online presence from the start and saw where the tide was going, they would rival play and amazon, in the UK at least, for music and books (if they were still with waterstones) on the goodwill of their brand alone. It's always easy with hindsight... but the guy who wrote the blog saw what was coming.
That is a really good read and pretty much sums up from an authoritative source what most suspected was going on on the inside. There really is nothing more dangerous in business than resting on your laurels and assuming that the present status quo in terms of technology / customer mannerisms and preferences / market share / competition or alternatives is just going to stay constant forever.
The likes of HMV Zavvi Borders Jessops Comet JJB Woolworth's etc. have all been blown out of the water by aggressive moves into their market share either by online retailers or supermarkets (or in JJB's case by Sportsdirect which is pretty much a sports 'supermarket' now in itself in terms of the way it operates) and all of these boards have sat and watched and been dismissive of either the pending threat or their chances of changing the direction/strategy of the business.
That is a really good read and pretty much sums up from an authoritative source what most suspected was going on on the inside. There really is nothing more dangerous in business than resting on your laurels and assuming that the present status quo in terms of technology / customer mannerisms and preferences / market share / competition or alternatives is just going to stay constant forever.
The likes of HMV Zavvi Borders Jessops Comet JJB Woolworth's etc. have all been blown out of the water by aggressive moves into their market share either by online retailers or supermarkets (or in JJB's case by Sportsdirect which is pretty much a sports 'supermarket' now in itself in terms of the way it operates) and all of these boards have sat and watched and been dismissive of either the pending threat or their chances of changing the direction/strategy of the business.
Complacency has claimed a lot of jobs.
I spent the last few years on the board of a high street retailer and i can tell you that what i experienced was just this level of complacency and arrogance. But sometimes there is such a belief in the brand and product offer above all else that there is only room for knee jerk reactions each Monday once the tradiong board meets with the numbers. To be fair the belief and passion sometimes is enough to get you through bad times as long as you arent attacked from "outside" (web, supermarkets etc).
Our busniness's issue was price point and competitors stealing deisgns/ideas cheaper but we stood firm and pretty much weathered the storm.
I aint there anymore but they still seem to be doing well (said through gritted teeth).
Many high streets will survive through change and looking after their mix and overall footfall... Megastores look more at threat due to costs and lack of personal touch whereas it is boutique stores which create ambiance and local flavour...Some will die unless local community, commerce and local government find a way to improve activity and in turn create jobs
HMV might come back with a much reduced estate, perhaps 10-20% of the stores... and maybe someone there will see the light and beef up their online offering. Waterstones flogged me a kindle for a Christmas present and explained how anyone in the family could ebrowse in store for 1 hour free of charge ... so why not music / coffee shops do the same... and pubs... and etc etc
Not for one moment defending HMV in terms of selling Christmas gift cards less than a month ago and their marketing... or trying to protect old style commerce vs new fangled ways... just that we have reached (or passed) a tipping point in certain types of retail and for all kinds of reasons it makes sense to assist as what is left adapts and regenerates
As for people who say "should have seen it coming", "dinosaurs", "technology moving on" etc. well they said that about footy before Italia 90 and Skysports came along to help reinvent the whole experience
On reading this, Nokia phones springs to mind. They seemed to have the market sewn up in the 90s and got left behind while their competitors raced ahead. I see they are on a come back but is this perhaps little too late.
Apologies if this has been mentioned in previous pages and i've missed it.
What will happen to Fopp. I frequent this shop on shaftesbury avenue more often that hmv shops and worried this will go under soon, as thought it had a connection with hmv owners.
Fopp itself went way back, they took a lot of my student loan between '05 and '07 before going.
Then HMV took them over (or the name at least) and they re-opened a few select stores, so I'd imagine Fopp would be gone for good this time around.
Fopp are in Waterstones opposite my workplace. I went in there last Monday to get a Blu Ray (out that day), they had it in DVD but only received/ordered 1 Blu ray which they had sold. Not the first time that has happened to me.
It's a massive shame as I love going in HMV. Unfortunatly though, we now have to move with the times as we can download songs, movies and TV programmes now. I remember a good 15 years ago we could by singles for £2.99 and there was a whole wodge of different songs. To download a song costs 80p which you can buy 3 songs if you had a £2.99 budget.
However, HMV don't help themselves with their over pricing. In Tesco you can buy a top blueray DVD for £12, Amazon £15 and with HMV it's roughly £17 so it's no wonder customers choose to go elsewhere.
However, HMV don't help themselves with their over pricing. In Tesco you can buy a top blueray DVD for £12, Amazon £15 and with HMV it's roughly £17 so it's no wonder customers choose to go elsewhere.
The problem there Disco, for distributors & the public alike is that Tesco sell the "top" titles. Same as all the supermarkets, with films, CDs & games...they sell the Top 10 and nothing else. Musically, a bit of a nightmare scenario for those of us not into x-factor acts. A lot of jobs, aside from HMV, will be lost if they can't be saved. They do need to look at how they operate, obviously being done now, but would not like to see them go.
Comments
It's for life.
Those with a job will buy from Amazon.
Those without a job will either be forced to work in the charity shops for free or will buy the stuff that those in a job donate to the charity shop.
Simples.
http://www.philipbeeching.com/2012/08/why-companies-fail-rise-and-fall-of-hmv.html
The likes of HMV Zavvi Borders Jessops Comet JJB Woolworth's etc. have all been blown out of the water by aggressive moves into their market share either by online retailers or supermarkets (or in JJB's case by Sportsdirect which is pretty much a sports 'supermarket' now in itself in terms of the way it operates) and all of these boards have sat and watched and been dismissive of either the pending threat or their chances of changing the direction/strategy of the business.
Complacency has claimed a lot of jobs.
Our busniness's issue was price point and competitors stealing deisgns/ideas cheaper but we stood firm and pretty much weathered the storm.
I aint there anymore but they still seem to be doing well (said through gritted teeth).
HMV might come back with a much reduced estate, perhaps 10-20% of the stores... and maybe someone there will see the light and beef up their online offering. Waterstones flogged me a kindle for a Christmas present and explained how anyone in the family could ebrowse in store for 1 hour free of charge ... so why not music / coffee shops do the same... and pubs... and etc etc
Not for one moment defending HMV in terms of selling Christmas gift cards less than a month ago and their marketing... or trying to protect old style commerce vs new fangled ways... just that we have reached (or passed) a tipping point in certain types of retail and for all kinds of reasons it makes sense to assist as what is left adapts and regenerates
As for people who say "should have seen it coming", "dinosaurs", "technology moving on" etc. well they said that about footy before Italia 90 and Skysports came along to help reinvent the whole experience
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21118711
What will happen to Fopp. I frequent this shop on shaftesbury avenue more often that hmv shops and worried this will go under soon, as thought it had a connection with hmv owners.
Then HMV took them over (or the name at least) and they re-opened a few select stores, so I'd imagine Fopp would be gone for good this time around.
However, HMV don't help themselves with their over pricing. In Tesco you can buy a top blueray DVD for £12, Amazon £15 and with HMV it's roughly £17 so it's no wonder customers choose to go elsewhere.
The problem there Disco, for distributors & the public alike is that Tesco sell the "top" titles. Same as all the supermarkets, with films, CDs & games...they sell the Top 10 and nothing else. Musically, a bit of a nightmare scenario for those of us not into x-factor acts. A lot of jobs, aside from HMV, will be lost if they can't be saved. They do need to look at how they operate, obviously being done now, but would not like to see them go.