HMV

Exit la boutique sur Piccadilly Circus désormais fermé et remplacé, Hmv d’Oxford Street me servira dorénavant de potentiel virée en shopping musical.
Mon premier maxi cd c’était dans cette enseigne. Depuis ça m’a laissé penser que je pourrai régulièrement trouver une rareté. Il semblerait que le tout ce soit uniformisé et qu’a part quelques artistes méconnus ailleurs, on en revienne au même.
Le quatrième art tient donc une place prépondérante, devançant d’une belle marge le septième, notamment avec un vaste rayon consacré aux vinyles. Rez de chaussée et surtout deuxième étage pour la musique, au sous sol pour le cinéma et les séries tandis que disséminé dans tout le magasins, le merchandising grappille quelques espaces.

I have shopped at hmv over the years. This was the first time I decided returning a pair of headphones which I bought as a gift. First of all, just found out that they do not offer refunds, and I was not offered an alternative either as the sellotape of the box was opened. Not sure how one would decide if they want to keep the gift or not without trying it. Bad example of customer service when there are so many alternative retailers out there. Well, you saved a £30 purchase today but left a customer for life… Well, for how long ever you manage to stay around let’s say…

Dear HMV,
Seriously, who are you catering to?
Walking in through a veritable gauntlet of security staff – jfc, am I going through an airport pat-​down next? – at the door, you enter into a disjointed landscape of… the same item on five shelves.
Variety? Nonexistent. Variety of product types? Ditto. Attitude of staff? You’d think they were the deities of media consumption.
Pass. No, seriously. Pass.

Ah HMV, how you continue to disappoint.
When I heard they were going out of businesses, did it surprise anyone? They can’t compete with online sales or Amazon for physical purchases. They’re a dying breed.
So when I then heard they were reopening their 1921 original store, in the same location, with the same marquee that they had back then, I thought, «Ok, cool, recreate the feel of the old store with charm and class and maybe create a place where shopping is fun again. I can get behind this.» This is the place where the Beatles cut their first demo discs and got found by George Martin after all, it’s music legend. Maybe they’ll turn this spot into something really worth seeing, a half store, have museum to music in London. Something you can’t not check out while on Oxford Street.
Wrong.
Outside, it does have the beautiful neon façade of the dog listening to the gramophone with a giant «His Master’s Voice» in neon written beside him. But inside — business as usual. First floor is all the stuff they really want to sell, bottom floor is filled with movies and top floor is filled with CDs. All overpriced, all boring, all done before.
When HMV was bought and came up with a new place to save the chain, they promised to focus on a better selection of material, great in store performances, and make an effort to «represent local scenes and trends.» But if this is how they think they’re going to do that, they’re failed even before they’ve begun.

Une envie de musique à minuit ?
Il y a des HMV un peu partout dans Londres, et ils sont ouverts très tard. On y trouve des CD, DVD, T Shirt ou posters, et autres accessoires liés au cinéma ou à la musique. Les prix sont raisonnables, surtout en periode de soldes, pas mal de DVD à 7 ou 8 £, des CD à 4 ou 5 £ (6 ou 7 €). Par contre les CD sont souvent vendus sans blister et déja ouverts. Alors à vérifier avant d’achter une pochette vide !

Vivo en Londres y me parece que es de las mejores tiendas calidad-​precio que he visto, no tirando a lo profesional –me refiero pinchar en club y esas cosas– yo considero que muy buena, pero prefiero el HMV de Picadilly Circus W1