Manager of the arc in Bury St Edmunds hopeful that HMV can be saved
HMV in the Arc, Bury St Edmunds
Jobs are under threat at another major High Street retailer this week, after entertainment giant HMV called in the administrators.
More than 4,000 staff and around a dozen in Bury St Edmunds, face an uncertain future.
Colin Roberts, arc centre manager said the store in Bury had been trading well, but even that might not be enough to save it.
“It is really very sad. HMV is such an iconic brand on the High Street,” Mr Roberts said.
“But unfortunately it is the victim of changing shopping trends with more people downloading music.
“HMV is the last proper music multiple retailer left in the country.
“We are hopeful as always that the administrators will be able to sell it as a going concern.
“We know that the store in Bury has performed very well. I hear anecdotally that it has been trading well.
“Over the Christmas period it had queues 20 deep.
“It is a very popular shop.
“That said Jessops had got off to an incredibly good start on the arc but that wasn’t enough when the whole company went under.
“I just feel disappointed for all the staff both here in Bury and nationally.”
The announcement on Tuesday that HMV had gone into administration came just days after the closure of Jessops – also in the arc.
Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers announced on Friday that all 187 Jessops would cease trading with the loss of 1,370 jobs.
“It is apparent that we cannot continue to trade and as a result we have had to make the difficult decision to begin the closure of all 187 Jessops stores at the close of business today,” it said.
Deloitte have been appointed administrators for HMV – 223 stores and 4,123 staff are under threat.
Nick Edwards, Joint Administrator and restructuring services partner at Deloitte, said: “HMV is an iconic retailer and continues to be a very popular brand, but as we have seen with many high street retailers, the market is changing rapidly and conditions are currently very tough.
“Following our appointment, we are working closely with management and staff to stabilise the business in order to continue trading whilst actively seeking a purchaser for the business and assets. We appreciate the cooperation and support from the staff, customers, suppliers and landlords at what is clearly a difficult time.”
Customers are already feeling the effects of HMV’s plight, with the store confirming gift vouchers will be refused.
Customers with unspent gift vouchers are now creditors of HMV and will have to deal with administrators to get their money back.
Lianne Stewart, 25, from Bury, said she had £20 which were given to her as a Christmas present from her brother.
She said: “It’s like they are stealing from you - if they haven’t got any money how can they pay us back?”
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Weather for Bury St Edmunds
Tuesday 18 June 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 14 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Thunderstorm
Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North
