HMV to return to iconic Oxford St flagship
The music retailer will return to 363 Oxford Street, home of the first HMV store which opened in 1921, on 24 November
HMV is set to return to its iconic Oxford Street location this month, four years after it first shuttered the flagship site.
The music retailer will return to 363 Oxford Street, home of the first HMV store which opened in 1921, on 24 November.
According to HMV, the reopening of the flagship store will create over 70 new jobs.
The group said the store will become a “hub for entertainment in the capital and the largest entertainment outlet in London offering an unparalleled range of music, film, merchandise and technology products as well as performance spaces”.
Over the decades, the HMV site became renowned as a community hub for music fans with performances and signings from artists such as Kylie Minogue, The Spice Girls, and Blur, who performed an iconic rooftop gig at the shop in 1995.
The new store features a purpose-built performance floor in-store, which is expected to draw performances and signings from other renowned artists.
The store will also stock over 4,000 popular culture merchandise lines, over 20,000 vinyl albums and CDs, over 8,000 4k Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD, as well as a wide range of music technology products.
Grass roots local bands and artists will also be given the chance to perform at the site, and can contact staff in-store for details on how to perform through HMV’s Live&Local programme. This year, the programme will have seen over 2,000 performances and events in stores by the end of December.
Doug Putman, owner of HMV and Fopp, said: “Our new hmv shop concept and fan-focused offer is really working for us, with hmv once again becoming a mainstay on the UK high street. The return to Oxford Street and re-opening of our flagship is a culmination of the team’s hard work over the past four years and as a business we see it as the launchpad for an exciting new era for HMV.
“We want our new Oxford Street shop to become a home for like-minded pop-culture fans and music lovers to come together under one roof, as it memorably has been in the past for so many people. We can’t wait to open our doors on the 24th with a host of exciting entertainment planned for our customers.”
