HMV to Close All 102 Stores

[Puppet Guy]

Originally Posted by habernac

I'm one of three people left on Earth that buys CDs and Blu Rays, so this kinda blows, but not surprising. Amazed they lasted this long.

Originally Posted by Dion

I'm the other one of the three. Will miss that store

#3 checking in. I sad.

[PepsiFree]

I feel like they could've written an article stating "HMV is still in business" and it would've been equally surprising to an equal number of people.

[Engine09]

I just got home from buying a couple concert BluRays at HMV. I make a point to buy a the Southcenter location as much as possible, I even get them to order in stuff for me. But now that I think about it I buy 50% online as well, if they lose half of their regular sales from all the hardcore buyers like me and the fairweather music fans drop to zero there is not much left.

The times, they are changin'. I'm actually really pissed.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

I just got home from buying a couple concert BluRays at HMV. I make a point to buy a the Southcenter location as much as possible, I even get them to order in stuff for me. But now that I think about it I buy 50% online as well, if they lose half of their regular sales from all the hardcore buyers like me and the fairweather music fans drop to zero there is not much left.

The times, they are changin'. I'm actually really pissed.

One of my old foster kids is a DJ, makes mumbatron beats and other stuff that all sounds identical to me but apparently is completely different and I'm a deaf old git, none the less he was complaining about how little money he gets from ITunes and the various other places he sells his tunes, I asked him what was the last music he bought then, he replied he couldn't afford to buy music because he was a musician so he downloaded for free from various 'sources'.

He didn't understand me when I told him 'live by the napster die by the napster'.

[Ashasx]

I usually always took a browse when I went to Market mall. If Best Buy is my only alternative now, that sucks.

[TheScorpion]

Dang, I walk through HMV a lot.

Didn't they just do a big renovation on the one at Chinook? Like, they moved it upstairs by the food court and everything?

[Hack&Lube]

They are the only place with a decent selection if you want a physical copy of something right away. I looked at Walmart and Best Buy's selection and there is almost nothing. They are the only place with 3D Blu Rays.

A shame as I would have bought more vinyl from them if they weren't overpriced to death compared to other dealers. I actually went on an HMV spree during Christmas and bought a bunch of stuff to watch as I was too lazy to download and finally bought a working blu ray player in the PS4 Pro.

[darockwilder]

Count me as another CD buyer. I used to love HMV but in the last few years I would generally walk out feeling frustrated by the crappy selection. It seems like all they carry is a few new releases, reissues of classics, and compilations. Not a place to find new music, I started buying heavier music via Nuclear Blast. Obviously a better selection but some cool packages available too.

[Hack&Lube]

I remember they went through the videogame phase too. That's where I bought my first Wii, at the TF Square HMV in 2006...which I flipped because they were the flippable item du jour at the time.

[Hack&Lube]

I'm pretty sad about this. The Canadian retail landscape gets more boring by the day. Amazon is great but sometimes you just want to go out and browse for things. HMV always had a random selection of weird geekery and carried movies and music to flip through that no other physical stores still do. Walked into the new concept Best Buy in Deerfoot meadows and it's basically converted into an appliance shop with only a tiny selection of movies and games.

HMV and Target were two of the places I used to wander to when bored. I guess I could still go to London Drugs to browse records late at night.

[FlamesAddiction]

HMV is pretty much the only store I still check out when I am at a mall and I still make purchases there once in a while. Bought some Adventure Time items for like 75% off around Christmas.

I typically only go to malls on really crappy days just to walk around and let the tot stroll around.

[WhiteTiger]

That sucks. While I didn't buy CD's, I was a big fan of their DVD/Blu Ray sections, and always loved browsing for stuff.

[REDVAN]

I found a lot of great stuff by just going to HMV and seeing what they had in the listening stations. Those were the days (20 years ago now... damn)

Even though I always felt like I was going to get a disease from the ratty headphones that were at each station.

When I was 14/15, I used to make my mom sit in the passenger seat and I'd drive to HMV in westhills just because I was bored.

Then digital became the thing and I use Apple music. Buy 2-3 CDs per year, and they're usually on impulse at Walmart :-(

[direwolf]

Put me down as another person who still buys physical media. Sure, I do some streaming and downloading as well, but I'm an obsessive movie & music collector and I prefer owning the physical product. I agree that there's something to be said for being able to just walk into a store and browse.

Thankfully there are still quite a few indie record stores kicking around. Vinyl has come back in a big way over the last few years, so I think those kinds of shops will still be around for a while yet. But if I want a physical copy of a movie, there's really nowhere to go anymore that carries a decent selection. HMV was pretty much the last bastion in Canada for hardcore movie collectors. Best Buy's selection is terrible these days, and Walmart generally only carries the newest popular releases. So if you're looking for anything obscure, your only option now is Amazon.

Anyone here ever been to Amoeba Records in LA or San Francisco? It's probably the best record/movie store I've ever set foot in. Last time I was at the Hollywood location, I must have dropped around $200 on various blurays, vinyl, and CDs. That place is my Disneyland.

[Northendzone]

I a, trying to think when I made my last purchase of a cd and what cd I bought........

Can I still buy cd's thru Columbia house?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by direwolf

Anyone here ever been to Amoeba Records in LA or San Francisco? It's probably the best record/movie store I've ever set foot in. Last time I was at the Hollywood location, I must have dropped around $200 on various blurays, vinyl, and CDs. That place is my Disneyland.

Hollywood Location Closing
http://www.dancingastronaut.com/2016...wood-location/

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I read that (well, the list wasn't that long in the article), but I was getting at the online sales side of it. It's not like a local record store trying to become iTunes. HMV peaked at $360MM just 7 years ago, and within a couple of years, they were at half that revenue. The CEO should have been scrambling to get into online/digital sales. At least, that's my reaction. But I'm not an executive of a big company. I'm just a guy that can't see how they didn't see it coming.

This was 2010. It's not that easy to suddenly become something you have no knowledge about. It's virtually impossible to compete suddenly as a software company when you've been a brick and mortar retailer for decades. The two businesses are nothing alike

http://business.financialpost.com/fp..._lsa=54d7-0203

[Drummer]

Hopefully Recordland in Inglewood survives.

[FireGilbert]

Put me in the group that had no idea they were still in business. I spent so much money on CDs at their Southcentre and Eatons Centre locations. They had a great selection and almost always stocked what I was looking for.

I don't think I've played a CD in at least 5 years however. Now I just have a really good coaster collection.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Drummer

Hopefully Recordland in Inglewood survives.

There's no way Recordland doesn't survive. They have about 1.2 million records in storage and they are jacking up prices in the vinyl revival.

Records they paid $5 for are selling for $30, etc.