HMV has reopened its flagship store on London’s Oxford Street after a four-year absence, as the entertainment retailer’s owner hailed a revival in sales of physical music formats, including CDs.
Doug Putman, who has engineered a turnaround of HMV in the UK and owns Toys R Us in Canada, said it was a “great moment” to be able to welcome back customers on Friday to its very first store, which was opened in 1921 by the British composer Sir Edward Elgar.
The shop has played host to a number of British bands, including a rooftop gig by Blur in 1995 and the Spice Girls’ Christmas lights switch-on the following year.
It closed in 2019 when HMV fell into administration and spent years lying empty, followed by a brief spell as an American candy store, before the music, DVD and pop culture retailer finally agreed a deal with the landlord to return.
In a throwback to its live gig roots, a number of acts were lined up for performances and signings at Friday’s store reopening, including the South African singer Baby Queen and the bands Hard-Fi, the Reytons and Madness.
Putman told the Guardian that HMV, which currently has more than 100 stores across the UK, had seen total sales rise this year, with sales of CDs up for the first time in more than a decade.
Putman said CDs had regained appeal because they were now relatively cheap and there was also a “doubling down on trying to buy everything [a band] comes out with”. Taylor Swift’s album reissues are selling across all formats, for example.
He hopes the Oxford Street store might draw “crowds which will shut down the street again” with live events. The entrepreneur, who also runs the Canadian retailer Sunrise Records, stepped in to buy HMV in 2019 after the business collapsed into administration.
Putman, who earlier this year tabled an unsuccessful rescue deal to save the high street chain Wilko, said he was “super disappointed” not to have been able to buy the budget retailer.
He remains on the lookout for more retail acquisitions in the UK as “we are in love with the UK” and expects opportunities to emerge over the coming year.
“As long as it is a retailer and we can see a way to turn it around, we will do it,” he said.
In April, HMV confirmed it had sealed a deal with the landlord to return to Oxford Street as the company retained confidence in high street shopping and in the eventual resurgence of London’s main shopping destination, which has been plagued by empty outlets and American candy shops.
“We think our return shows the positive direction things are going in here,” Putman said. “There is no problem having the odd candy store here but people don’t need tens of them, but also want to see an HMV or a Waterstones.
“One retailer is not going to change it but it is a step in the right direction. Ikea is coming next year and hopefully more and more retailers will come as it’s an iconic street.”
Sam Foyle, at the real estate group Savills, said 23 candy and souvenir stores have been removed from Oxford Street in the past year, helping to “breathe new life” into the thoroughfare.
“A further 10 are projected to come off in the next six months,” Foyle said.
HMV said the shop would be the largest entertainment store in London and was expected to host appearances and signings by renowned musicians on its “purpose-built performance floor”.
It will stock about 20,000 vinyl albums and CDs, in excess of 8,000 Blu-rays and DVDs, as well as music technology products.
