High-street music retailer hmv has been acquired by Sunrise Records owner Doug Putman.
Update: 3:00pm 05/02/19
hmv have now confirmed which of the 27 stores across the UK it'll be closing – including London's Oxford Street branch.
The full list is as follows:
Ayr
Bath
Bluewater
Bristol Cribbs
Chichester
Exeter Princesshay
Fopp Bristol
Fopp Glasgow Byres
Fopp Manchester
Fopp Oxford
Glasgow Braehead
Guernsey
Hereford
Manchester Trafford
Merry Hill
Oxford Street
Peterborough Queensgate
Plymouth Drake Circus
Reading
Sheffield Meadowhall
Southport
Thurrock
Tunbridge Wells
Uxbridge
Watford
Westfield London
Wimbledon
Original story:
The UK's biggest high-street music chain, hmv, has been bought out of administration by Doug Putman, owner of Canada's Sunrise Records (which also previously fell under the hmv title until he rebranded).
The deal will see 100 hmv stores remain open across the country, and 1,487 employees still in jobs – though 455 people have unfortunately been made redundant, and 27 stores will be closing with immediate effect.
"We are delighted to acquire the most iconic music and entertainment business in the UK and add nearly 1,500 employees to our growing team," says Doug in a statement.
"By catering to music and entertainment lovers, we are incredibly excited about the opportunity to engage customers with a diverse range of physical format content, and replicate our success in Canada.
"We know the physical media business is here to stay and we greatly appreciate all the support from the suppliers, landlords, employees and most importantly our customers."
Discussing the future of hmv, Doug continues: “We think it will be a long time. We took over 80 stores in Canada two-and-a-half years ago and they’re doing strong, doing well, profitable. We see hmv continuing on in the UK for a long time. We believe it’s a chain that’s going to be around, the customers love it, we get amazing support, which is great. I think this is a very long road ahead.”
