James Delahunty
12 Sep 2011 21:23
HMV Group chief executive Simox Fox insists he is still optimistic about the future.
The High-Street store has seen a 12.8 percent drop in total retail sales. "Trends in HMV Retail were broadly unchanged during the Group's first quarter, with like for like sales decline at 15.1%," said Fox in an official statement.
"Total HMV Retail sales, including the impact of 29 store closures, were down 21.8%, and including HMV Live, the Group's total sales declined by 19.4%." The chain is now looking toward the Christmas market for a boost, with Fox saying big name game releases are likely to provide it, giving special mention to FIFA 12, Batman: Arkham City, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and more.
Newer HMV stores that have a stronger focus on tech products such as headphones, MP3 player docks and so forth were also mentioned by Fox. 150 HMV stores are to make a transformation to a new Apple Store-like appearance. "We're very encouraged by what we've seen in our technology stores," said Fox.
"The business has been through a very tough time, and the line up of the products looks very good, the technology offer that we've got we feel very confident about it. I'm certainly more optimistic now then I was when we last spoke in May."