The vault birmingham movie#

We will always beat the market,” he said. “The market will contract but I don’t think HMV will. Moving out of HMV’s heavily loss-making Oxford Street store in London and agreeing rent cuts elsewhere have helped the bottom line, along with other savings. Putman is also confident the UK chain can turn a profit in his first year. The plan is to open a cafe, too – making it a destination entertainment store in the same way as Primark’s giant store down the road, which draws coachloads of shoppers with its cafes, beauty salon and barbers alongside cheap fashion. “We have more vinyl titles in stock in this store than sold in the whole of last year in the UK,” said Putman. It has a stage to host bands and DJs and a screening room with space for 50 people alongside its music, film, books, band paraphernalia such as posters, T-shirts, mugs and technology such as headphones and turntables.

The Birmingham store – underneath a carpark in a less salubrious part of the city centre shopping district – is aiming to offer something Amazon cannot. “The world’s a scary place if there is just Amazon and ultimately we are all starting to realise that.” Amazon gives huge convenience but every time you get something amazing you are sacrificing something for that.” “We hire people in communities and work with charities and we pay our tax. He said HMV had an advantage over Amazon because it offered an experience and was a part of local communities.

There is something really special about it and when it’s gone, it’s gone.” The UK has got an amazing high street and we want to support that. “A lot of high streets are challenged and struggling. “I believe we can grow the chain,” he said. The self-confessed vinyl nut, whose family owns Canadian toymaker and distributor Everest, has already re-opened 14 of the 28 HMV stores that closed after the retailer went into administration in December last year, taking the chain back to 114 outlets.

The vault birmingham movie#

I’m really happy.” He said the chain had increased its movie sales despite the hefty downturn in the market. But HMV’s loss was Amazon’s gain, because the internet giant’s market share climbed by nearly the same amount and it now accounts for £1 out of every £4 spent on physical entertainment products.Īs he puts the finishing touches to his new store, Putman is optimistic: “The market is definitely down but we are way ahead of the market. HMV’s share of the market sank three percentage points to 14.4% in the three months to 30 June, compared with the same quarter in 2018. In video – mainly DVDs – sales plunged 28%. UK sales of physical media, including CDs, DVDs and games, shrank by nearly 11% in the year to 25 August, according to market analysts Kantar. He has pledged to invest at least £10m in reviving the chain and wants to make his shops part of local communities, work with charities and – in a sideswipe at Amazon – has promised to “pay our tax”. But it is a statement of intent by Doug Putman, the 35-year-old boss of Sunrise Records, which rescued 100 HMV stores from administration in February. Menu and prices at The Gin Vault, Birmingham | Quandoo