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
nineties, 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.