Another Retail Business (Zavvi) Goes Under...

[TedShatner10]

Well that's that for yet another big retail company.

I knew that was going to happen, especially with the encroaching online digital media rendering CDs and casettes increasingly irrelevant. A few record stores have closed down long before now, but HMV is still hanging on in there.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

HMV bought up some of the old Zavvi stores from what I gather, I'm not sure why they didn't face the same fate, different supplier? (Zavvi used Entertainment UK).

I picked up a cheap season set for Red Dwarf last week and was tempted to pick up another, but found the doors to the last store in Northern Ireland closed.

 

[Hermiod]

^It wasn't just supplier problems directly. Zavvi had to borrow money to buy stock when Entertainment UK went under while HMV didn't as they had the cash in the bank to do it.

 

[Kemaiku]

HMV bought up some of the old Zavvi stores from what I gather, I'm not sure why they didn't face the same fate, different supplier? (Zavvi used Entertainment UK).

I picked up a cheap season set for Red Dwarf last week and was tempted to pick up another, but found the doors to the last store in Northern Ireland closed.

The store in Newry only just closed a few weeks ago, it was one of the only places in this ahem "town" that you can actually find DVD's, CD's and the like other than one HMV store which is too over priced.

The problem is the unit it occupied is too large for the smaller stores to take the risk buying up right now, so its just a vacant eyesore now.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

Wish I'd gotten in to take advantage of all the discounts now. Still, they kinda pissed me off when they charged me double sticker price on a DVD and didn't tell me until afterwards.

 

[cultcross]

Looks like Head Entertainment is buying both Bristol branches. Which is good for me, I shop there all the time.
But I'm very sorry to hear of the other closures. That's a lot of people without jobs.

 

[jamestyler]

I have friends working for the company and they've felt the axe coming down for ages - most of them stopped caring when they were told they'd soon be out of a job around Christmas time.

HMV is taking over the larger Zaavi in Glasgow - putting the problems and fears of jobs aside, I'm glad to see the back of it. The stock was dreadful and terribly overpriced compared to other stores in the area. Even after the discounts went on I was able to get stuff half the prive in HMV.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

The store in Newry only just closed a few weeks ago, it was one of the only places in this ahem "town" that you can actually find DVD's, CD's and the like other than one HMV store which is too over priced

So, one for every "city" in Northern Ireland

But I'm very sorry to hear of the other closures. That's a lot of people without jobs.

Indeed, but there are strange attitudes sometimes amongst those about to be made redundant. At my sister's workplace in Liverpool, quite a few people relished the prospect of redundancy and their little package (two week's wages on top of their pay). They all expected jobs or seemed to have some lined up so were effectively getting a little bonus rather than a payment to help them survive joblessness.

 

[Deimos Anomaly]

HMV bought up some of the old Zavvi stores from what I gather, I'm not sure why they didn't face the same fate, different supplier? (Zavvi used Entertainment UK).

I picked up a cheap season set for Red Dwarf last week and was tempted to pick up another, but found the doors to the last store in Northern Ireland closed.

Victoria square?

It was still open when I went past it last saturday.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Victoria square?

It was still open when I went past it last saturday.

That's the one. It was closed up on Wedneday (18th), the bitter end as far as Zavvi is concerned, it was the last day open for any of their stores.

 

[Starkers]

I think Branson knew exactly what he was doing when he sold the Virgin shops off. I never connected with Zavvi, and actualy am not sure how much I've ever spent there. It used to be that Virgin was cheaper than HMV but I think this kinda reversed once Zavvi came on the scene.

HMV have brought the Nottingham Zavvi, in the same way they brought the Nottingham FOPP and kept it open, so they've pretty much cornered the market here. Not sure if they're planning to have 3 HMZ stoes, or are going to close the smaller one and relocate to the bigger Zavvi site.

 

[Captain Shaw]

I remember when Newlook brought the old WH smith store in Nottingham they closed all the smaller shops.
It would not surprise me if HMV did the same i can't see the one near broadmarsh staying open at least.
And i read today it looks like Brantanos shoes are in trouble makes you wonder who is next i wounder how the AU natural near me stays open there never anyone in there.

 

[Deimos Anomaly]

The whole thing raises one of those "cause or effect" questions in my mind:

Did Zavvi go down the toilet because it was no longer under the Virgin umbrella?

or..

Did Branson see the downfall of the Virgin Megastores coming when nobody else did, and decide to jettison them before that happened?

 

[cultcross]

The whole thing raises one of those "cause or effect" questions in my mind:

Did Zavvi go down the toilet because it was no longer under the Virgin umbrella?

or..

Did Branson see the downfall of the Virgin Megastores coming when nobody else did, and decide to jettison them before that happened?

The former, really - HMV survived the downfall of their supplier because they had reserve funds 'in the bank' as it were with which to replenish their stocks. Zavvi, having split from its essentially bottomless source of capital, the Virgin brand name, was without such a safety net and couldn't recover.

 

[Holdfast]

The Virgin Group companies tend to have to be pretty self-sufficient. They work as a close confederation (closer to a keiretsu arrangment though not the same) rather than a traditional conglomerate, so Virgin Megastores wouldn't have been able to draw funds from the rest of Virgin empire. Having said that, I totally agree that the brand name had vast hidden capital. Its profile was so much higher than zavvi as a result. Zavvi just sounded cheap and meaningless.

I'm not surprised it imploded, to be honest, though the nature of the implosion was unpredictable of course.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

I didn't know about the rebranding until I saw the new stores, it did seem quite cheap, despite a perceived increase in prices.

But then I know people like Branson (albeit on a much smaller scale) who like to go from business to business, shake things up, then leave when it comes to the mundane task of running things day to day.

 

[Hermiod]

^It wasn't so much a rebranding as the stores were bought by a group of former Virgin Megastores executives.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Zavvi.co.uk is back up and running and is almost (but not quite by enough for my liking) as cheap as Play.com. At least when it comes to season 4 of Red Dwarf.

 

[Captain Shaw]

I heard the company that owned warehouse went under but has been brought out by a Iceland bank
And LDV could go anytime now.

 

[Hermiod]

Zavvi.co.uk is back up and running and is almost (but not quite by enough for my liking) as cheap as Play.com. At least when it comes to season 4 of Red Dwarf.

The Hut just bought rights to use the Zavvi name.