General The High Street

I've heard a similar rumour too

 

Was up in town this morning. Went through HMV since it will be closing soon and they have up to 50% off their stock, excluding new arrivals. Bought a few CDs in the classical section for £6 each. I asked one of the staff when they were closing and he wasn't sure. Also did my bit to help Waterstones, Waitrose, and WH Smith.

 

I went and bought some Harry Potter books from WH Smith last week. Real books made from real paper! Don't judge me....they were for my daughter. She can't read them yet so I'm looking after them....

 

The HMV in Cheltenham is shutting down now. I've worked in the town for five years. Many times I've popped in there to see what's out, or to buy myself something. It was a... stalwart. Today, half the store is empty and all the stock is discounted (albeit from a high starting price). Strange as it may sound, it's a sad sight.

 

I'll be up in town tomorrow and I'll see if ours is still open. The guy I asked the last time I was in didn't know the closing date.

 

I was in there last week. It is indeed a sad sight. The only place to get DVDs and CDs now are the 2nd hand shops, or travel down to Bristol. I'd have thought they'd keep one of Cheltenham or Gloucester open

 

I did read in one of the papers (can't remember which one) that some WH Smith branches will be selling CDs/DVDs again. My branch is pretty small though and part of the ground floor is taken up with the main Post Office. They used to sell the CDs etc upstairs but that area isn't very large.

 

I think the CEX Electronice Exchange places that are popping up around here are part of what hurts places like HMV. Because all the stuff in those places in used the price is quite low and you can get credit by selling them stuff and using it to buy other stuff. I have found lots of DVDs there for less than £5 or sometimes just £1, games and phones and consoles are cheaper there too.

The only thing they don't do is CDs, but I'm not sure how many people even buy them now since it's so easy to make them on a computer or just use MP3

 

I think we have one of those stores on our High Street. I've looked in the window but haven't gone in.

 

Never seen a CEX down south, but the ones in Huddersfield, Leeds and Wakefield were crap. Half the stuff it's a wonder they could sell it at all.

 

Well, my HMV is still open. I took a wander around and picked up a couple of CDs. Guy behind the counter said he thought they'd be open til at least April. However, the Textiles Direct store in the mall is having a Going Out Of Business sale as well. If you have one of these near you and you need towels, sheets, etc now's the time. They had some 'Slanket' knock-offs for £2.99 each. Unforunately only colors in my store were red/pink or black. Got a black one. Now I look like a Sith Lord walking around in the flat in it.

 

Exactly. I would've expected them to keep some presence in the area. When the first round of closures were announced I was surprised both were kept open, and now I'm surprised both are being closed.

 

I think the closest one to me will be Kingston-upon-Thames when ours shuts.

 

Most of the stuff in the local ones here is decent enough, though I guess it's always likely there will be a lot of the same things.

Cheap games is good. Cheap TV series are good when you can't see a lot of them on TV and internet watching wastes usage and isn't as comfortable.
I got my dad a Marx Brother box-set and all of The Thick of It for not very much at all.
Not to mention you can get most Trilogies and TV shows there I've found, and it's a good place to get rid of old stuff you no longer want (even if you get about £3.50 for most of it )

 

Good news on the HMV front - Hilco has acquired 132 stores and all 9 of the Fopps chain stores. My local HMV is on the 'rescued' list!

You can see the full list here on the BBC News site.

halibut - your stores are on the list as well!

 

The Gloucester branch had a sign up last week saying it was staying open. Most odd.

 

Maybe the branches in question were told before the list was made public.

 

Yep, the Cheltenham branch seemed a lot healthier today when I popped in. No sign of any imminent closure. Good news.

 

I'll stop by my local branch next week when I'm in town. (Probably Monday if the weather is OK).

 

I will admit that my motivation for seeing the Cheltenham branch stay open isn't so that I can actually purchase items. I would do that online. No, I have Monday lunchtimes earmarked as 'errand hour'. If I have to pick up anything in town during the working week I try to do it on a Monday (I only work ten minutes walk from the High Street). Whilst I'm there I like to pop into HMV and check out the artwork on the latest DVD / BR releases.

 

People who do that are why they are in trouble...

 

Went into my HMV today. They had a sign up about staying open and that they were currently restocking. I wanted the Penguins: Spy in the Huddle DVD but they didn't have it yet. Settled for the new OMD CD which was in stock. So Amazon UK gets the Penguin order...

 

People who do that are why they are in trouble...

 

Hey - at least I gave them the first shot. I did buy the OMD CD there...

 

Seems that HMV wants to focus on selling CDs and DVDs primarily, yet wasn't that the area where they were losing out in the first place and has caused them to go into administration?

Digital music is the future, not CDs.