This Week’s HMV Success Story

Barely a week can go by without at least one UK paper reporting the latest sign that former bankrupt music retailer HMV is on the comeback trail.

The latest installment came Sept. 2 in The Guardian, which revealed HMV is about to overtake Amazon as the UK’s biggest music and DVD retailer.

Eighteen months ago, the now born again record-seller was driven under by a bad mix of declining physical music sales, expensive shop rents and huge debts. It’s just a matter of time before HMV takes the lead from Amazon, according to company chairman Paul McGowan.

Amazon currently has 20 percent of music and DVD market, with HMV just behind at 19 percent. However, sales at HMV stores have increased nearly 14 percent in the past two months.

CD and vinyl record sales have shot up 21 percent. Annual sales at HMV are heading close to £500 million , although recovery specialist Hilco has cut down the number of stores to 125. It’s also being reported the company has new stores planned in the UK and Ireland, where the chain was at one time shut down completely.