Skeezix
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Interesting. There was an article in this morning's Globe about the new HMV format, but it did not say where in Toronto the first one would be located.
HMV Music Stores playing a new tune (link)
MARINA STRAUSS
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
May 28, 2008 at 8:05 PM EDT
HMV Canada is branching out beyond CDs and DVDs to cellphones and iPods in a new prototype store that will help its customers hook up to the digital music that has stolen away business from traditional music retailers.
HMV, the country's largest music chain with 123 outlets, will unveil its “store of the future†in Toronto on June 17, modelled on an HMV test store in Britain. It features a wide range of premium technology products, including a significant Apple presence. The Canadian store, which will be the first of 20 more to be rolled out here this year, will have an interactive “hub†with six iMac computers and access to an array of entertainment and social networking sites. It will have gaming stations, books and “entertainment-focused mobile phones.â€
“We are moving with our consumers in terms of what forms of entertainment they choose to consume,†Humphrey Kadaner, president of HMV Canada, said in an interview.
Industry observers said that HMV had to broaden its offerings or risk seeing its customers head to Future Shop or Wal-Mart for their digital music purchases.
“It's a recognition that the market has changed,†said Larry LeBlanc, who writes a music industry publication called the LeBlanc Newsletter. “It's a recognition that people are interested in getting music in different forms. They [HMV] have to go to that market or they will be left behind.â€
Music retailers have felt the crunch of a rapidly changing listening and buying landscape. Late last year, Music World Ltd., the last Canadian-owned national music chain, collapsed into bankruptcy protection while Sam the Record Man closed its flagship in Toronto last summer.
The Canadian music industry has been hammered by a worldwide drop in music sales that has slashed the ranks of staff at music labels Sony BMG and EMI in the past year.
HMV, now the only remaining national music chain in Canada, has defied the troubled CD market by diversifying beyond music in a bid to cater to the purchasing habits of its core 14- to 24-year-old customer, Mr. Kadaner said.
Non-music products, including video games that were launched last year, now account for about 55 per cent of HMV's sales and could reach 65 per cent by year-end, he said. Three years ago those products made up only between 20 and 25 per cent of overall sales.
The new store will underline the transformation, although all the merchandise, including the books, are tied to some form of entertainment, he said.
It's part of a wider turnaround effort at British parent HMV that appears to be resonating with customers. For the 16 weeks to April 26, the group's total same-store sales grew 10.1 per cent, HMV reported earlier this month.
It said its prototype “next generation†store, which was refit last September, enjoyed a 25-per-cent lift in same-store sales and will be rolled out at other locations.
Duncan McKie, president of the Canadian Independent Record Production Association, said HMV is taking a cue from the youth market that it caters to. “They're in the [music] content business and now they want to be in the technology business. They ultimately want to be in both. … There's a limit to how long CDs will be around. You have to sell the medium itself in order to sty in the game.â€
HMV Music Stores playing a new tune (link)
MARINA STRAUSS
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
May 28, 2008 at 8:05 PM EDT
HMV Canada is branching out beyond CDs and DVDs to cellphones and iPods in a new prototype store that will help its customers hook up to the digital music that has stolen away business from traditional music retailers.
HMV, the country's largest music chain with 123 outlets, will unveil its “store of the future†in Toronto on June 17, modelled on an HMV test store in Britain. It features a wide range of premium technology products, including a significant Apple presence. The Canadian store, which will be the first of 20 more to be rolled out here this year, will have an interactive “hub†with six iMac computers and access to an array of entertainment and social networking sites. It will have gaming stations, books and “entertainment-focused mobile phones.â€
“We are moving with our consumers in terms of what forms of entertainment they choose to consume,†Humphrey Kadaner, president of HMV Canada, said in an interview.
Industry observers said that HMV had to broaden its offerings or risk seeing its customers head to Future Shop or Wal-Mart for their digital music purchases.
“It's a recognition that the market has changed,†said Larry LeBlanc, who writes a music industry publication called the LeBlanc Newsletter. “It's a recognition that people are interested in getting music in different forms. They [HMV] have to go to that market or they will be left behind.â€
Music retailers have felt the crunch of a rapidly changing listening and buying landscape. Late last year, Music World Ltd., the last Canadian-owned national music chain, collapsed into bankruptcy protection while Sam the Record Man closed its flagship in Toronto last summer.
The Canadian music industry has been hammered by a worldwide drop in music sales that has slashed the ranks of staff at music labels Sony BMG and EMI in the past year.
HMV, now the only remaining national music chain in Canada, has defied the troubled CD market by diversifying beyond music in a bid to cater to the purchasing habits of its core 14- to 24-year-old customer, Mr. Kadaner said.
Non-music products, including video games that were launched last year, now account for about 55 per cent of HMV's sales and could reach 65 per cent by year-end, he said. Three years ago those products made up only between 20 and 25 per cent of overall sales.
The new store will underline the transformation, although all the merchandise, including the books, are tied to some form of entertainment, he said.
It's part of a wider turnaround effort at British parent HMV that appears to be resonating with customers. For the 16 weeks to April 26, the group's total same-store sales grew 10.1 per cent, HMV reported earlier this month.
It said its prototype “next generation†store, which was refit last September, enjoyed a 25-per-cent lift in same-store sales and will be rolled out at other locations.
Duncan McKie, president of the Canadian Independent Record Production Association, said HMV is taking a cue from the youth market that it caters to. “They're in the [music] content business and now they want to be in the technology business. They ultimately want to be in both. … There's a limit to how long CDs will be around. You have to sell the medium itself in order to sty in the game.â€