HMV - His Master's Choice... Part 1

His Master's Choice - Part 1

HMV's Flagship Store on Oxford Street, London

HMV, the 92-year-old music retailer, is unlikely to have much of a future beyond a cluster of stores and the internet, if other recent retail failures are anything to go by. 

An administrator was appointed on Tuesday to try to salvage some of its 223 British stores.

After years of struggling as its business of selling CDs and DVDs was hammered by competition from supermarkets like Tesco, online retailers like Amazon and download sites like Apple's iTunes.

Hilco, the restructuring specialist that purchased HMV Canada in 2011, was watching the situation closely, given the possible merge of the brands. If HMV were to close completely Britain's entertainment market would lose 300 million pounds.

HMV's administration, puts 4,123 jobs at risk, it is the latest blow to an industry which has seen a long-line of household names like Woolworths, MFI, JJB Sports and Comet fall down.

The store also struggled to reinvent itself when its core markets went into decline, with expansion into live entertainment and books failing to change its fortunes and a recent push towards tablets and headphones coming too late, with other sites like Zavvi already seizing the oppurtunities.

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Information from yahoo! uk finance