2023-11-24 07:00:00
British music store HMV will return to its former flagship store on Oxford Street, London, on Black Friday following a four-year absence. It will offer vinyl, clothing and merchandise, providing a vote of confidence for physical stores at a time when online commerce is becoming increasingly important.
363 Oxford Street was home to the very first HMV store in 1921, opened by composer Edward Elgar, and played a central role in the development of British popular music and culture.
The retailer, famous for its dog and gramophone brand, exited in 2019 when Canadian entrepreneur Doug Putman struck a deal to save the bankrupt company, closing 27 prime locations and keeping 100 stores open .
In the center of Britain’s most famous shopping street, the store had recently stood empty or sold American sweets.
Now, thanks to more favorable rent and tax rates, HMV is coming home.
“We are very optimistic regarding the future of physical stores in retail,” Mr. Putman said in an interview with Archyde.com. “Even though sales are still done digitally, our customers like to come to the stores. They like to browse.”
The store will offer 8,000 different vinyl albums, 12,000 CDs, music merchandise and a wide range of music technology.
It will also offer more than 4,000 products from franchises such as Pokemon, Star Wars, Marvel and DC, as well as more than 750 t-shirt designs.
“It’s regarding us offering much more than, say, a CD or a DVD or a piece of vinyl. It’s regarding offering all the bells and whistles that surround it,” Mr. Putman said.
The new store, which has a purpose-built performance hall, will also host performances by big names and local artists. It thus reconnects with its past and shows how hard retailers must work to ensure the success of their physical stores at a time when commerce is increasingly moving online.
CHER TO BLUR
The site is full of history. It has hosted John Lennon, Cher, Elton John and Michael Jackson, as well as a host of British bands in store and on the roof, including Echo & The Bunnymen and Blur.
The store also played a key role in the rise of the Beatles. In 1962, their manager Brian Epstein brought a cassette of the band to the store’s recording studio. Having liked what he heard, the studio head set in motion a series of events that culminated in Epstein meeting George Martin, who became the Beatles’ producer.
HMV went into administration in 2013 and once more in 2018, but under Mr Putman’s leadership the business grew to more than 120 UK outlets and returned to profit in 2022 It opened a store in Dublin in June, another in Antwerp on Thursday, and plans to continue its expansion in Europe.
Its resurgence has mirrored that of the vinyl market. HMV says its vinyl sales are significantly higher than the UK market’s annual growth of 18%, and represent half of its physical music sales.
“We are confident that growth in the vinyl market will continue in the near future,” Mr. Putman said.
Westminster City Councilor Geoff Barraclough, who oversees Oxford Street, said the HMV store represented what they wanted to do on Oxford Street: “an experience that goes beyond traditional retail”. (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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