HMV Shrewsbury saved by Hilco takeover
The HMV store in Shrewsbury’s Pride Hill Shopping Centre is one of 141 HMV stores nationwide to be saved in a takeover by restructuring experts Hilco.
It means the staff at the store will be among the 2,643 across the country to see their jobs preserved following the reported £50 million buyout of HMV, founded in 1921 and famous for its Nipper the dog trademark.
The news has been welcomed by Kris Townsend, Manager of the Pride Hill Centre store, who said: “We've had the most amazing reaction from our customers since the news broke on Friday that HMV has been bought out of administration.
“It makes us even more determined to give them a more rewarding HMV experience, and we'd also like to welcome shoppers who used to visit our store in Telford which sadly had to close.”
Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: “While our thoughts are also with the many dedicated staff at HMV stores which have closed across the country, we are delighted that the Pride Hill store will continue to operate.
“It has always been a popular and high-performing store with a loyal customer base and dedicated and enthusiastic staff.
“There really is no substitute for actually being able to browse the wide selection at a dedicated entertainment store like HMV and we’re pleased that it will continue to be part of the varied and extensive retail mix that we have here at Shrewsbury Shopping.”
Hilco already owns HMV Canada and Paul McGowan, Hilco chief executive, said: “We hope to replicate some of the success we have had in the Canadian market with the HMV Canada business which we acquired almost two years ago and which is now trading strongly.”
Major music labels and film studios, keen that a major entertainment retailer remains on the high street, are understood to have agreed to new supply terms with HMV and approved the deal.
HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said: “I know there are lots of exciting plans for HMV in the months ahead which we can't wait to share, but in the meantime we just want to get back to providing the best possible service that we can and getting a full range of music, film and games back into our stores again.
“We've managed to keep a lot more of our branches open around the country than was originally thought, which is great news, although we're obviously sad that some also had to close in the end - and where this was the case we'd like to thank all affected work colleagues for their hard work and dedication as well as customers for their valued support over the years.”
