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01-15-2013, 10:45 AM
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#1 | | My homepage has been set to RS
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| HMV files for bankruptcy
Britain’s HMV files for bankruptcy protection Quote:
After more than nine decades in business, British music and entertainment giant HMV is scrambling to stay afloat amid stiff competition from online retailers and digital downloading services.
The company announced Tuesday that it was suspending trading on the London stock exchange, as its shares fell to 1.1 pence on Monday, and called in officials from Deloitte to act as administrators to find a buyer for the business.
However, HMV Canada’s 113 stores are not affected because Hilco UK, a specialist in restructuring retail businesses, bought the Canadian operations for about $3.2 million in 2011. The parent company was looking to divest some of its overseas operations to shore up the sagging business.
“We were one of the first ones that agreed to go it alone,” said Nick Williams, HMV Canada president and CEO, in a telephone interview. “We had strong Christmas sales and a strong 2012. It was a stellar year.”
Same store sales for HMV Canada for the holiday period in 2012 were up 1.1 per cent over the 2011 season. Full year sales in 2012 exceeded $270 million.
Williams said the Canadian operations focused on core content including CDs, which make up 35 per cent of sales, and DVDs at 50 per cent. It also added gifts and collectibles, which have profit margins exceeding 50 per cent, as well as T-shirts.
By contrast, the U.K. stores got into the hardware technology businesses including tablets and games, which is a highly competitive segment with poor margins, he added.
While that may bring increased foot traffic, Williams believes it was the wrong strategy for U.K. operations, given how competitive that market is.
Hilco has been named as a potential buyer for the U.K. operations along with private equity firm Endless, and private equity veteran Jon Moulton, according to the Financial Times.
HMV U.K.’s 238 stores, some in high-rent city centres, including the flagship one on Oxford St. in London, which played a crucial part in the launch of the Beatles, will remain open for the time being. More than 4,000 people work for the chain.
The decision to call in administrators came after management failed to reach an agreement with lenders and suppliers to continue trading.
The name HMV, which stands for his master’s voice, comes from the company’s trademark of a dog named Nipper staring intently at the bell of an early gramophone player.
Over the years, the industry has changed, but it’s become even more pronounced in recent years. Fans no longer have to buy records or CDs to get music or DVDs for their favourite movies or television programs.
Instead, they can buy individual songs through an iTunes account or watch movies through streaming services like Netflix. And if they still want to buy a CD or DVD, cheaper options exist at discount retailers or online through stores like Amazon, which don’t pay high rents for bricks-and-mortar operations.
But Williams argues big box competitors or discount retailers only feature new releases and don’t hold the wide catalog of CDs or DVDs that a specialist chain like HMV can. And during the holiday season, CDs and DVDs are popular gift choices.
As well, he added Canadians still prefer to buy items in stores and are less likely than those in the UK or the U.S. to make online purchases.
Recently, HMV Canada launched a new subscription-based, streaming digital music service.
Despite steadily losing market share to Internet sellers, HMV still has about 20 per cent of the U.K. music and video market, which includes both downloads and discs.
| Good read, more detailed: Why did HMV fail? | Philip Beeching | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk | 
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01-15-2013, 10:52 AM
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#2 | | Zionism gets my shell hard and slimy
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i was actually in HMV a couple weeks ago and i noticed something pretty quick, no one under the age of at least 30 was in there majority looked at least 50 years old.. not at all surprised that this happened with the laziness of this generation.
convenient/free>everything <-- attitude of todays generation
i dont blame people tho, i rather download a cd on itunes/torrents then go somewhere to buy it for the same price or free
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01-15-2013, 10:57 AM
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#3 | | what manner of phaggotry is this
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im positive HMV is only staying afloat by the older crowd. A guy I work with is in his mid 50s and has like 1000 CDs and even records. He buys everything he wants to listen to.
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01-15-2013, 11:04 AM
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#4 | | MOD MOD MOD MOD MOD
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I buy CD's as well. To me owning a digital format is not really owning anything. I need to be able to see/feel the product, lol.
__________________ Quote: | [03-07, 03:26] Yodamaster - The feeling when you quickly insert without hitting the sides | | |
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01-15-2013, 11:18 AM
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#5 | | Willing to sell a family member for a few minutes on RS
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Last time I bought a CD was 1999  | |
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01-15-2013, 11:25 AM
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#6 | | Zionism gets my shell hard and slimy
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last cd i bought when new  | |
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01-15-2013, 11:31 AM
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#7 | | 14 dolla balla aint got nothing on me!
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Not surprised at all.. they were steadily closing down multiple locations in the past year. I can only think of two locations that haven't closed yet, white rock and langley
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01-15-2013, 11:35 AM
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#8 | | I contribute to threads in the offtopic forum
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by nabs  I buy CD's as well. To me owning a digital format is not really owning anything. I need to be able to see/feel the product, lol. | Me too. I love my Discman.  | |
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01-15-2013, 11:37 AM
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#9 | | RS.net PIMP
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Oddly enough I have purchased a number of CDs and vinyls in the past few months, but more as a display items on the walls for my media room.
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01-15-2013, 11:48 AM
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#10 | | Zombie Mod
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Amazon has AutoRip, now. Any previous or new purchases of CDs will give you a digital copy.
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01-15-2013, 12:28 PM
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#11 | | I only answer to my username, my real name is Irrelevant!
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i was in hmv on christmas eves eve  buying blu-rays though
as mentioned before i still buy cds; i was a bit surprised to hear about the UK hmv's getting in trouble since blockbusters/hmv have always done better in the uk, until i heard how many stores they have there... seems a bit excessive for such a small area
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01-15-2013, 12:47 PM
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#12 | | RS controls my life!
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Havent bought a cd since The Eminem Show. Datpiff and thepiratebay ftw.
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01-15-2013, 01:03 PM
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#13 | | Banned By Establishment
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I very rarely buy CDs and only do so when it is one of my fav band putting out a new album. I know I will like it without even having to listen to it before the purchase.
Gone are the days where I would hear a song on the radio, like it, buy the cd, listen to that one song over and over because the rest of the CD sucked, and never pick it up again.
I have boxes and boxes of CDs....mostly shit like Marcy's Playground, Eve 6, Smashmouth, Fatboy Slim, Spacehog, etc...
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01-15-2013, 01:59 PM
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#14 | | Hypa owned my ass at least once
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I would buy cds if I liked the artist and I find true cd quality sounds better on car stereo than mp3s
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01-15-2013, 02:02 PM
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#15 | | y'all better put some respeck on my name
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Not shocking because who buys DVD's and CD's anymore.
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01-15-2013, 03:29 PM
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#16 | | Director of RS Cares
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^me. I still buy CDs on the reg.
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01-15-2013, 03:30 PM
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#17 | | My homepage has been set to RS
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even if u like to buy cds, hmv is overpriced crap. If they can't get in the digital game, they should at least get their marketing mix up to speed. They did neither and deserve to go bankrupt
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01-15-2013, 03:35 PM
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#18 | | Banned (ABWS)
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Uh....this is UKs HMV. The few left in Canada are still in operation and have nothing to do with this. Just saying.
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01-15-2013, 03:40 PM
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#19 | | Where's my RS Christmas Lobster?!
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If listen to the artist and the cd has mostly good songs on it then i will usually go buy it. I remember when my MP3 player broke up north in the oil patch and i got out my discman, Every single person in camp made fun of me  I only had 2 cds that didnt skip hahahaha
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01-15-2013, 03:46 PM
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#20 | | What hasn't Killed me, has made me more tolerant of RS!
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Don't worry, it'll happen here too soon enough. Selling CDs and DVDs out of a big box store in this day and age is a sure way to bankruptcy. It's too bad you can't buy MP3s off Amazon.ca
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01-15-2013, 04:31 PM
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#21 | | Prince of the Apes
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by snails i was actually in HMV a couple weeks ago and i noticed something pretty quick, no one under the age of at least 30 was in there majority looked at least 50 years old.. not at all surprised that this happened with the laziness of this generation.
convenient/free>everything <-- attitude of todays generation
i dont blame people tho, i rather download a cd on itunes/torrents then go somewhere to buy it for the same price or free | What in the fuck? Lazy because they don't goto a store and buy a physical copy? And last I checked you paid for itunes songs. What about concerts and theaters? Ignorance at its finest.
this is the digital era, some won't accept it, most will. I think the only thing id buy would be blu-ray.
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There's times in life where I want a relationship, but then I cum. Quote: |
[23-08, 13:17] nabs i've gripped ice boy's shaft before
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[26-08, 13:50] Jesusjuice is this a sports car forum? why are there so many hondas?
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01-15-2013, 05:59 PM
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#22 | | y'all better put some respeck on my name
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I remember when I was 16 (16 years ago) I would go to HMW in Metro because they would always have the hard to find import CD's you couldn't get from anywhere else, at one point I must have had a collection of 500 CD's.
It is sad to see them go but the digital era has taken over, I mean hell most cars now come stock with a aux and USB input, even the days of burning CD's are basically over and done with.
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01-15-2013, 06:40 PM
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#23 | | Willing to sell body for a few minutes on RS
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There is a massive Victoria Secret going into the old downtown location.
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“The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place... and I don´t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently, if you let it. You, me or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life. But ain't about how hard you hit... It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That´s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth.” - Rocky Balboa | |
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01-15-2013, 08:18 PM
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#24 | | My homepage has been set to RS
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Im not that surprised... I went dvd hunting this christmas and its expensive as hell... Online purchases are probably killing them
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01-15-2013, 10:54 PM
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#25 | | Big Drama Show
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Seeing all these CD stores file for bankruptcy is like a kick in the nuts to my childhood  | |
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