HMV is a leading specialist retailer of music, film, games and
technology products, with over 120 stores around the UK , offering a wide selection of
new release and catalogue titles.
The hmv brand, made famous by the iconic image of the ‘dog and
trumpet’ trademark featuring ‘Nipper, is practically synonymous with the very
history and development of British popular music and culture. Hmv’s rich
heritage as a retail specialist stretches back over 90 years to 20th July
1921 when its first store in London ’s
Oxford Street
was officially opened by the celebrated British composer and conductor, Sir
Edward Elgar.
Since that time hmv has made music and entertainment available
to its customers in every format imaginable: from sheet music and the earliest
gramophone 78s to today’s digital downloads. On the way hmv has, of course,
notably also taken in vinyl singles and albums, cassettes and CDs as well as film
and TV content on VHS, DVD & Blu-ray and games titles across all
platforms. More recently still hmv has gone ‘back to the future’ by
carrying the latest portable technology such as headphones and tablets.
As one of the first high street brands to recognise the passion
that so many of us have for music, film and games, hmv virtually invented the
idea of instore events and product launches, and over the years many of the
world’s greatest artistes have appeared in its stores to meet their fans,
sometimes to perform live or occasionally just to shop. From recording
giants such as Elgar and Yehudi Menuhin in its very earliest days to icons
including Cliff Richard, Kate Bush, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Madonna,
David Bowie, Beyonce, Amy Winehouse and Quentin Tarantino and more recently
Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and One Direction, hmv has hosted them all.
In its first few decades hmv traded principally from its main London flagship store and
supplied own-label products to recognised dealers around the country on a
franchise basis, but all that changed with the advent of first Elvis then the
Beatles in the late Fifties and early Sixties and explosion of popular culture
that followed. More HMV stores began to open around London and then gradually the rest of the
country as the chain began to take shape and expand during the Seventies. But
it was really in the Eighties, through the combined catalyst of Liveaid in 1985
and the advent of the compact disc around the same time that hmv really took
off as a leading retail brand with a national footprint.
hmv continued to expand through the 1990s, reaching 100 stores
in 1997. The launch of the DVD format in the late 1990s propelled the hmv’s
growth for the following decade with the company exceeding 200 UK stores in 2004.
Towards the end of the noughties, hmv's growth started to slow
as the internet and digital distribution began to change the retail landscape.
In response to these changes, HMV sought to diversify into new ways of giving
people the access to the music, film and games they love with investments in
venues, festivals and cinemas.
In 2013, HMV Group plc went into administration, with a new,
streamlined hmv emerging two months later under new ownership as a lean and
agile private company. Today, hmv trades from over 120 stores in the UK , more than 110 locations in Canada and is fast rebuilding its presence in Ireland . An
updated product mix, refreshed stores and new digital services, together with a
commitment to bring customers more exclusive in-store events and experiences
than ever has seen hmv regain its rightful place as the home of entertainment.
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