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HMV Canada closing doors in April, local independents surviving

February 2, 2017   ·   0 Comments

Written By: Jasen Obermeyer

Shocked or not, content or sad, it’s happening; HMV Canada is closing all its 102 stores end of April, amid sliding sales of physical music and movies.

An Ontario Superior Court judge approved an application to place HMV Canada into receivership. HUK 10 Ltd., a subsidiary of the U.K. restructuring company Hilco UK, which bought HMV in 2011, filed the application.

HMV Canada has been operating for over 30 years, but as of recently, has a debt of $39 million. By 2014, sales began dropping, with an estimated loss of $100,000 a day. Annual sales slipped from $266 million in 2012 to $193 million at the end of 2016.

Perry Joseph, owner of the local music store Aardvark Music and Culture, says he wasn’t shocked by the announcement, and was rather anticipating it. He says the loss of HMV isn’t catastrophic and not the beginning of anything. “I think it’s just another event of something that started quite awhile ago.”

He says artists are able to deliver their music instantly, on social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube and people consume it for free or a cheaper price. “It’s a matter of us just delivering music differently and having access to music we would never have had access to before.”

A big reason known to many for the closing is the ability to download or stream music digitally, like ITunes enabling consumers to pick and choose songs to buy, and even online shopping, with Amazon or eBay removing the hassle of spending time in the store.

Mr. Joseph says if people move to online shopping, they’re taking a chance with the product, whereas if you go into a store, you physically see it and know what you’re getting.

For those looking to grab as many music or video products, HMV’s website states “HMV closing all locations. Everything now up to 30% off original ticketed price.”

Although he says Aardvark didn’t have pressure from HMV, Mr. Joseph says it’s good for smaller stores like his own; there are still places for people who like to physically buy music, but have to do a bit of research. “In the same way that you have to hunt for the stuff when you get into the store, you have to hunt for the store a little bit.”

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