Fopp: financial difficulties?

[Mr Smin]

Bit scary that they warned *some* staff not to expect their pay - if money's tight they should share it among all staff.

 

[lights.out.london]

yeah they actually seemed to give a toss about good music rather than just making money......ironically

...and the people in the Camden store (at least) genuinely tried to help. None of that disinterested/uber-cool record shop assistant bollocks that you sometimes encounter.

Shame. Good customer service, both at Camden and the one by the junction of Shaftsbury Ave/CXR.

 

[belboid]

someone at glastonbury told me they were closing last week, i then immediately forgot it for some strange reason.

classic case of over-expansion which they were unable to sustain - bloody obvious really in a market being killed off by downloading.

hope the staff steal all the cd's and dvd's in place of their pay

 

[Dr_Gonzo]

Just opened a store in Maidstone, I only went in there once which is a shame I think there's only an HMV in town now.

 

[pogofish]

They were open in Manchester on Wednesday, but I haven't been past since. Are they gone now?

They were still trading in Aberdeen last night. BBC Scotland website may give more details, they have been carrying it on the bulletins all morning & I think they said dtaff had been in touch so maybe on their 4-6pm news show?

 

[lights.out.london]

someone at glastonbury told me they were closing last week, i then immediately forgot it for some strange reason.

classic case of over-expansion which they were unable to sustain - bloody obvious really in a market being killed off by downloading.

hope the staff steal all the cd's and dvd's in place of their pay

Looking at the financial press, I wonder if the cost base outstripped the cash flow (rather than profitability)?

I'm proud to be able to say I have never bought anything music-related offline or shared files or stolen music. I want to touch it, feel it, hear it and be served by fellow humans beings.

Sister Ray. That's kinda it now.

Has Beano's closed yet?

 

[Roadkill]

Fopp have gone bust

 

[Reno]

Poor staff. No pay for a month for what can't have been a high salary in the first p[lace. Bought something there last month and the guy I dealt with was really helpful

 

[Roadkill]

That's the worst thing about it, IMO...

 

[half_eaten_arm]

i liked fopp, its a shame...used to buy stuff there in reading quite alot. cant imagine how pissed off the staff are right now!

 

[chio]

Why did they open shops in all these pants little towns when they could have stayed in their Scottish heartland, opened shops in major areas like Manchester and London and stayed profitable?

 

[belboid]

scottish heartland?

their second (or maybe third) shop was in sheffield

 

[stavros]

Of the national chains, it was certainly better than HMV or Virgin. I got some good £3 and £5 stuff there over the years.

MVC went a couple of years back too, and Our Price.

 

[JTG]

Of the national chains, it was certainly better than HMV or Virgin. I got some good £3 and £5 stuff there over the years.

MVC went a couple of years back too, and Our Price.

Our Price got bought up then closed down by Virgin didn't it?

 

[lights.out.london]

..and Tower?

 

[Error Gorilla]

What a shame. Fopp was the only shop I really bothered with in Sheffield. I went into HMV a couple of Saturdays ago and it was deserted. I can't see that sustaining as a business model for much longer either.

 

[neilh]

scottish heartland?

their second (or maybe third) shop was in sheffield

maybe, but their first 2 stores were in scotland (up until a few years ago 2 out of their three stores) and they've been trading in scotland in one form or amnother for over 20 years and the guy who started it was scottish; i think it's fair enough to call scotland their heartland;

was gonna take a cd back this week, but no luck now

the byres road (glasgow) store (AFAIK the original store) has a sign up just now saying they've had to close TEMPORARILY due to unforseen circumstances with temporarily underlined, which seems unlikely regarding the news.

If only there was another record shop still going with Fopp's oh so generous policy on returns

 

[Paul Russell]

Our Price was the worst chain ever though. Tiny stock and really expensive!

Shame about Fopp.

Our Price got bought up then closed down by Virgin didn't it?

 

[Orang Utan]

Shit, my mate, who has worked for OP and Virgin before, works for Fopp - I better give the poor sod a bell

 

[cybertect]

Read this in the paper earlier.

I'd only recently discovered their store in Guildford and was very impressed. 20 mins later I'd spent nearly a hundred quid.

 

[Guppa]

Yeah gutting. They were always sound in Fopp. Hate buying music online, and they always have really cool weird little books by the counter so you end up knowing bits about everything from Marxism to some crazily obscure mad scientist. And Tim Burton.

 

[chazegee]

Well the internet changes everything, I remember spending all my free time on the listening posts in HMV.
Time marches on

 

[Campcrusader]

I'm gutted, too. Fopp was a fabulous chain with a truly eclectic mix of stock. I was a longtime regular at Covent Garden and, more lately, Tottenham Court Road. The £3 and £5 ranges made experimenting cheap and fun. RIP Fopp.

 

[gmfreeman]

Anyone who is owed money by Fopp - including its former employees and
suppliers - should contact the directors:

Gordon Thomas MONTGOMERY
Chairman
51 Waverley Road
Bristol
BS6 6ET

David John PRYDE
Managing Director
31 Esmond Road
Chiswick
London
W4 1JG

Peter Martin HILL
Finance Director
15 Parsonage Lane
Farnham Common
Berkshire
SL2 3NZ

 

[Dr_Gonzo]

It looks like there is some good news. Even though it will be owned by hmv it says they will be run independently and some people will get their jobs back.

HMV to revive 6 fopp stores

 

[ouchmonkey]

It looks like there is some good news. Even though it will be owned by hmv it says they will be run independently and some people will get their jobs back.

HMV to revive 6 fopp stores

thing is right,
I hate to piss on anyone's chips but the chances of any of that happening
are about zero - six more HMV stores is what you're looking at and if they have to take on the stock then they'll run it like Fopp as long as they have to but HMV is basically a cookie cutter capitalist operation just like McDonalds or Asda and the day the internet kills them off cannot come too soon.

If you ask me, like

 

[editor]

thing is right,
I hate to piss on anyone's chips but the chances of any of that happening
are about zero - six more HMV stores is what you're looking at and if they have to take on the stock then they'll run it like Fopp as long as they have to but HMV is basically a cookie cutter capitalist operation just like McDonalds or Asda and the day the internet kills them off cannot come too soon.

If you ask me, like

I'm not so sure you know. Fopp was doing alright until they started expanding their empire faster than Caeser with the runs, and their stores occupy a niche with a loyal following.

HMV would be nuts to fuck that up.

In my opinion, of course.

 

[twistedAM]

I'm not so sure you know. Fopp was doing alright until they started expanding their empire faster than Caeser with the runs, and their stores occupy a niche with a loyal following.

HMV would be nuts to fuck that up.

In my opinion, of course.

All of those stores were profitable and i think HMV will keep it niche.

I very rarely shop at HMV shop there but i do have some time for them as they employ a hell of a lot of musicians whereas Virgin employ failed hairdressers and when you do go into HMV and ask for something there tends to be someone there who knows their stuff..a few years back the Oxford Street branch were very helpful in ordering some real obscure polka and conjunto stuff for me.