HMV doors stay open in Hereford

9:49am Thursday 21st February 2013 in News By Adam Knight, Reporter

HMV will remain in Hereford High Town for now – despite a further wave of closures nationwide.
Thirty-seven branches of the CD and DVD chain will close over the next six weeks, taking the total to 109 since administrators Deloitte took control of the firm in January.
However earlier this month HMV signed agreements with a number of its suppliers ensuring trading will continue – and new stock will be available – at all remaining branches, including Hereford.
"This step has been taken to enhance the prospects of the restructured business continuing," said Nick Edwards, one of the administrators.
"We are extremely grateful to the staff for their continued strong support and commitment during an understandably difficult period."
 

Comments(18)

Biomech says...
12:55pm Thu 21 Feb 13

When you posted that Hereford HMV was saved the other week, I pointed out to you that Deloitte close stores in batches - the same as when you said Comet was saved and I told you it was closing. All this means is that we have survived round two. The fact that it is still here is merely down to the relatively newness of the shop. When HMV's in major cities with booming international tourism are closing - do you really think Hereford will continue? Especially when half of the city centre is closing down or moving.

I realise that you can only report on what you know or have been told, but perhaps wording articles a little bit more "on the fence" / non-definitively might be a better option as the alternative is looking like (in public hindsight) you're posting false news.

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Biomech says...
12:56pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Apologies - you did say "for now".
Thank you :) I will now go an put on my glasses :P

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William Rudd says...
1:14pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Biomech.Why post comments like half the City Centre is closing down or moving?
We still have only around 22 empty shops in Hereford out of around 240,well below the national average.

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Biomech says...
2:14pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Because there's weekly news of shops constantly closing down or moving out of the city. Your figures don't take into account the type, name or size of shops. If McDonalds closed down it would have a bigger impact than the 5 independent backstreet cafe's you could fit in that space.

Take out 22 substantial places and you have a problem (Comet, Jessops, Next(moving), TK Maxx(moving), HMV(survived the second wave), Blockbuster, River Island, The Booth, Hawkins Bizaar, JJB, Subway (downsize), ELC, Chadds, Currys (downsize merger) Rockfield, T Mobile, Panasonic Store, I believe JD Sports is going, Jingo).

Close down 22 little 10x10 shops from backstreets (Dave's Sandwiches, Little Johnnys Cobblers) and no one would notice as much.

"Half" doesn't have to be a numerical figure. Plus it's a figure of speech.

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Biomech says...
2:15pm Thu 21 Feb 13

I might have a walk around and count them this week, just to see how many obvious ones there are.

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Herefordian07 says...
4:05pm Thu 21 Feb 13

I agree with Biomech regarding the vacant premises, if you take out the charity shops Hereford would look quite empty. Also it is noted that shoppers do not like to pass down a street with too many empty shops, they turn around and go the opposite direction, therefore the shops that do remain have less footfall and wither also and it doesn't take long before the whole street fails.

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Biomech says...
4:19pm Thu 21 Feb 13

I have to agree with that, I never walk down Eign Gate anymore. I imagine (Peacocks is it?) down there are regretting their move into the old Woolworths building. There is literally nothing down that street apart from maybe Rymans and Cafe Nero. In fact, by contrast, when I was a kid we spent more time in Eign Gate than High Town.

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dippyhippy says...
4:52pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Yeah, and since Chadds closed, I rarely bother walking that far down.Herefordian07,q
uite agree about the charity shops,would also add in phone shops.Hereford is teeming with them. Charity shops serve a useful purpose,and are a welcome addition,but like the phone shops,we seem to have an epidemic of them in Hereford!!

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Biomech says...
5:09pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Yeah me too, I like the Entertainer, but other than that I go as far as Waterstones. The only time I venture further is on a night out as I head to "the strip".

I actually went into that foreign... I don't know what to call it, box shop? You know, sells lots of low quality things spread out on the floor. Anyway, I wanted some leafy garland at Christmas, I looked everywhere - they had some £25 for 1.5 meters. I actually ended up getting some from the Market, £3.40 a piece.

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dippyhippy says...
5:20pm Thu 21 Feb 13

I love the Butter Market, Its a shame more isn't made of it.It could be a real jewell in the crown.

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William Rudd says...
11:00pm Thu 21 Feb 13

On the talk of shops being empty there will be more empty in the near future.We have become a nation of mostly lazy gits who are spoon fed any item we desire from the luxury of our sofa by just typing away on a laptop while obesity sets in.

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Biomech says...
11:49pm Thu 21 Feb 13

It's not laziness that's causing the shops to close, it's just an excuse, there are plenty of shops who have embraced the Internet and are doing well. If anything, the Internet adds choice. Shops can't sell everything, the Internet can, after numerous trips around town not being able to find what you want - and then realising you CAN get what you want online, you're going to go online. You don't go into a shop a second time that doesn't sell what you want.

The money thing is also an excuse, if it were true, then the expensive websites would be shutting down as well.

Then there's the products themselves. Food online is a convenience, and fantastic for disabled people, people without transport or everyone in Hereford who has to battle the traffic. Digital media is another beast, that's changing in a big way. You used to by tapes and CD's, then you bought them online, but now it's becoming streamable and stored on clouds - you don't buy games anymore, you run them from the cloud or download them.

I'm not saying that price isn't a factor, but it's certainly not the sole reason. Online shops lack value and that's where high street shops are failing too. Not only do they cost more, they lack value. The customer service is atrocious, the interest from the staff and product knowledge. Very few shops stand out as having good service.

When I go to buy a TV, it won't be online, it will be in a shop where I can see it, touch it, ask questions and make the right choice. The latest Placebo album however, I'll buy online.

Shop owners need to recognise what they have to offer. Walking into a shop and looking at something on the shelf is the same as looking at it online - only online is more convenient.

In a shop you have the chance to build interaction, excitement, fun, interest a sense of loyalty.

I think I mentioned before that I bought a more expensive item from a local shop in town the other month simply because the woman said hello and seemed interested.

By contrast, I bought something online the other day - it arrived. The quality was far from what it looked in the picture and, consequently, I'm now looking at buying a much more expensive version from someone with some gusto!

But I will tell you what is lazy and disgusting - going to the gym and watching teenagers walk in, sit down on the "armchair" style bike, pedal weakly for 10 minutes whilst tapping away at their phone and then leaving.

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Biomech says...
11:58pm Thu 21 Feb 13

... as an example consider these two options;

Site at home, probably not having showered, find a picture of Christmas present on a white background, add it to your basket, add several more, pay, go and watch TV.

Go to town, it's chilly, you have your scarf on. The smell of fresh, hot doughnuts coming from a small tent and you can hear a string quartet playing Christ music in the square. You go into a toy shop, the toys are loose, helicopters flying around your head, teddy bears talking to you, rabbits doing back flips at your feet. You get to see the products in action, you get to pick them up, feel them, rub the plush animals on your face - they're so soft! You get to the checkout, the girl is smiling and cheerful, you pay and exchange a merry Christmas. You walk through town with 4, 5, 6 bags almost busting at the seems with toys.

Which option sounds the best?

Have you ever noticed how much better you feel after doing the washing up? Or the hoovering? Or the accounts? There's a sense of achievement - the same when you go shopping, a feel good factor.

- I love going into Waterstones, I don't often buy anything, but I love to look at everything in there. And, strange as it may seem, I love the smell. It reminds me of when I used to go in there years ago and actually makes me smile everytime I go in.

And THAT is what shops need to sell, the experience, not the products.

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Hereford Girl says...
9:59am Fri 22 Feb 13

I have to say I agree in part with what you are saying, the experience a shop offers is a big draw on whether you will return there are FAR too many shops in Hereford where the assistants treat you as if you are somehow beneath them for even daring to venture into their shop. I used to work in a music shop in town (now closed down) we would have customers travel from Monmouth every weekend to use us because we offered a nice environment, a chat, KNOWLEDGEABLE and ENTHUSIASTIC staff etc. Increasingly this service is being offered online though, with independent/small businesses really going that extra mile to make sure you are happy with your purchase.
On the other hand there are other shops/businesses (in my opinion) in town - View, Blockbuster, No1 Sandwich shop, Waterstones - where the assistants will have a chat with you about products they could recommend based on your choices or even just how your day is going and these will get you coming back even if they're not the cheapest.
Value for money is a big draw, especially in times like now, HMV offers a great selection but frankly even their own website (now closed I believe) offered products at a considerably cheaper rate than they were instore! Perhaps they will start to look at this and offer items at a competitive rate (although I won't hold my breath!)
I do think it's a shame when some shops shut but the big chains need to start looking at the grass roots, train your staff well, get staff that are enthusiatic about your products - low pay is a cop out excuse for lack of interest in your job, I was paid a pitance in my old job but i loved it and couldn't wait to get in there.If they can achieve this with competitive prices then they'll be halfway there.

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Biomech says...
4:30pm Fri 22 Feb 13

Absolutely, it's the value aspect and people are are starting to realise that as increasing numbers have problems with online shopping.

I always found HMV to be very expensive, which is fine - IF they have something to offer. But they didn't. There is NO difference between browsing CD/DVD's online and browsing the cases on a rack. Remember when... Our Price was around - they had those listening stations? The headphones where you could sample the music? I'm pretty sure HMV don't have that. What they also would benefit from is download stations, most people don't want CD's, if HMV provided access to downloadable content, they would retain public interest and then work on upselling / selling accesories in store. You could basically browse the store, pick up a case, take it to the listening/download/s
ample station, scan the barcode, if you like it, buy it and have it download either straight to you Cloud account or plug in your device their and then and download it.

Imagine that, a HMV cloud account synced / supported by the major players (iTunes etc), you could add credit, gift credits, manage music downloads, download more in store.... like actually imagine it... you walk into HMV, you like a piece of music, you by it there - digitally. Upon doing so it's synced with all of you devices that are linked with a HMV account. You listen to it on the bus on the way home, you get home, turn you NAS/Hifi/Audio system/PC on and it's there to be played. You can access and stream from your phone/ipod/ipad etc over 3G - you go to a friends house, plug into their ipod dock, play the music from your HMV accounts cloud.

It would be fantastic!

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Biomech says...
4:31pm Fri 22 Feb 13

Or, what I will deem a "MoD" service. HMV MOD - music on demand. Essentially a subscription based music version of Netflix, TV integration, PC and Mobile apps.

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dippyhippy says...
8:37am Sat 23 Feb 13

Good Lord Biomech,this is an excellent idea! If they partnered up with a coffee chain, these stores coul be extremely popular,and appeal right across the age range.You're right,it is all about the experience - if you have enjoyed something,why wouldn't you want to repeat it? And repeat,local trade is what these stores need.

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Interested Onlooker says...
12:11pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Not sure why anyone believes one McDonald's is better than a choice of five independent cafes or coffee shops. I would rather support the locals than bland, homogenised brands serving bland, homogenised 'food'.

As for HMV being expensive, actually, I've found several DVDs and CDs there this week suitable for Mother's Day cheaper than Tesco. Pity it took a 'fire sale' situation for them to shift some stock.....

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