The first store of the music chain was opened in 1921 on the famous London shopping street Oxford Street. In 2010, there were approximately 300 HMV stores across the UK, but then things deteriorated due to a decline in CD and DVD sales. In 2013, the company had to be protected from its creditors for the first time. It happened back in 2018.
The rescue came from Canada: businessman Doug Putman’s music company Sunrise Records & Entertainment put £900,000 on the table for HMV, which still had 114 stores at the time of the takeover. Putman focused on the renewed interest in vinyl records and brought a broader commercial exposure to stores. There are now over 120 branches again. Earlier this year, the first store opened in Ireland.
Now the chain has begun a “wider expansion” into mainland Europe, with Belgium as the first step. A store of approximately 300 square meters will be opened in the Wijnegem shopping center in Antwerp. HMV promises, among other things, 2,500 different vinyl albums, 3,500 CDs and a wide range of music technology. More stores should follow after Antwerp, “both in Belgium and abroad,” says Putman.
