Three North West stores to close following HMV sale
HMV stores in Southport and at the Trafford Centre, along with the Manchester branch of Fopp, are to close following the sale of the music retailer to Sunrise Records & Entertainment.
It was announced this morning that Canadian business Sunrise, headed by Doug Putman, will acquire 100 stores across the UK from the group, which was placed into administration in late December.
These stores will continue to trade as HMV, with 1,500 store and head office employees transferring as part of the deal. The stores will continue to trade as HMV, with four stores continuing to trade as Fopp.
While a further 122 employees in warehousing will be retained to assist in winding down operations, 27 units have not been acquired by Sunrise, and will close with immediate effect, resulting in 455 redundancies.
Will Wright, Neil Gostelow and David Pike from KPMG’s restructuring practice were appointed joint administrators on 28 December 2018.
Wright said this morning: “We are pleased to confirm this sale which, after a complex process, secures the continued trading of the majority of the business. Our immediate concern is now to support those employees that have unfortunately been made redundant.”
Putman said: “We are delighted to acquire the most iconic music and entertainment business in the UK and add nearly 1,500 employees to our growing team.
“By catering to music and entertainment lovers, we are incredibly excited about the opportunity to engage customers with a diverse range of physical format content, and replicate our success in Canada.
“We know the physical media business is here to stay and we greatly appreciate all the support from the suppliers, landlords, employees and most importantly our customers.”
The group’s remaining locations in the region include Manchester and Liverpool city centres, along with Stockport, Chester, Bury, Wigan, Warrington, Preston, Blackpool, Carlisle and Workington. There is also a store in Llandudno, North Wales.
The sale price was not disclosed.
Not FOP!!
Arguably the best music shop since Gary Willmott’s. I’d go there three times a day if I could, but I don’t work in Manchester.
By Alan Partridge
No, not FOPP!
By Anonymous
Fopp’s great, the landlord should re-think the deal as I don’t see anybody else taking it, look at Natwest on the adjacent street.
By York Street
what a shame about FOPP, the last decent price music shop in central Manchester
By T
I thought Southport might have survived the shop regularly seemed to be more than the average number of customers.
By Gary Cronshaw
I cant believe FOPP will close. Great bargins to be had here. Get there people before the axe falls
By The best music man
The Fopp unit ought to fit the Sunrise business model well, and as said above- that unit isn’t going to be let any time soon…
By Gene Walker