HMV, the UK-based music and entertainment retailer, will return to its former flagship store on London’s Oxford Street, four years after its closure. The store is expected to reopen towards the end of 2023, in time for the crucial Christmas holiday season.
The century-old music shop chain closed its famous flagship store in 2019, after the business went into administration and was subsequently taken over by Sunrise Records. HMV’s return to 363 Oxford Street is due to a “dramatic turnaround”, with the company getting back into profit in 2022. The new store will have different branding and a new layout from the original, but there are no plans to feature the famous Nipper The Dog sign that was synonymous with the original business.
The HMV store was opened in 1921 by British composer Sir Edward Elgar and became a world-famous presence for the music giant. It also played host to a number of British bands over the years, including a rooftop gig by indie billboard-toppers Blur in 1995, plus the switching-on of the Christmas lights by the Spice Girls the following year. In 2000, Beatles producer Sir George Martin unveiled a blue plaque at the store to mark its place in the band’s rise to fame.
During its recent revival, HMV has broadened its focus to include merchandise, music technology, more live music, and in-store signings, amid falling sales of physical music and films on DVDs and CDs.
