Zavvi could be next to be in trouble

Could have an impact on Virgin Group.

Link

I said it at the time, MBO's never ever work.

I had heard about the CD supply group Woolies owned. Surely though, someone is going to come in and pick that part of the business up, as it must be worthwhile.

EUK who where the Woolies in house music distributor was actually a very profitable operation, pity no one snapped it up. If Zavvi only rely on this supplier then not surprising they are in trouble.

And beliebe it or not M&S as well as Comet etc are also not so far away from crisis. I think poor old Woolies is just the start of a chain I think

Iain

Zavvi have been weak from the start, and I would imagine that Dixons/Currys owner DSG is currently suffering. I overheard a lady at Gatwick saying she'd bought an iPod from HMV because 'I've been hearing rumours about Dixons' - was really surprised that she would decide where to shop based on this!

EUK would have been snapped up, but I think the potential buyers realised they could get it cheaper if it was allowed to do down with Woollies.

[Darren Wheeler]

Been announced this morning, Zavvi have gone into administration. No word yet on if or when the stores will close.

[RichardMannion]

If I am really honest - this has been on the cards for years (the demise of the retail on the High St) - Internet shopping continues to grow and will most of the time beat the prices on the high street. The retailers all had their time where they could charge £15 for a CD, full RRP for a TV etc. That time is gone, and I can only really see it getting worse.

[Darren Wheeler]

Just shows what a rip stores are. iTunes charge £8-9. No wonder piracy is rampant.

[mitchja]

BBC News Link

I can't remember when I actually last bought a CD/DVD from a shop or even step foot inside a record shop [:?]

The supermarkets are probably also partly to blame for this too.

All my music/film/TV purchases are now downloaded/purchased via iTunes.

Regards

Shame to hear that Zavvi has gone into administration. It's the staff I feel for the most, and even though it looks grim I do hope they are able to keep the brand alive and the stores open.

I remember hearing that SRB was looking to sell Virgin Megastores (as it was before) due to the general trend towards music downloads and internet shopping and the management buyout represented the perfect opportunity. No doubt he'll look back by thinking what a good business decision it was to sell when he did - wouldn't bode well for the rest of the Virgin brand if it was still Virgin Megastores and that went into administration!

I wonder what's going to happen to the Irish division of Zavvi as the BBC report states that is currently not subject to formal insolvency proceedings.

I think it speaks volumes that SRB sold the whole thing. If one of Britain's strongest brands was getting out, how could Zavvi ever hope to?

Still, hopefully it will give some stability to HMV.

As far ripoffs, I don't think they are. There's still something nice about buying from a person and opening the CD, getting the lyrics etc. I like iTunes, but it's soulless. (Mind you, some shops are too.)

quote:Originally posted by Sealink
I think it speaks volumes that SRB sold the whole thing. If one of Britain's strongest brands was getting out, how could Zavvi ever hope to?

Still, hopefully it will give some stability to HMV.

As far ripoffs, I don't think they are. There's still something nice about buying from a person and opening the CD, getting the lyrics etc. I like iTunes, but it's soulless. (Mind you, some shops are too.)


With regards to SRB, I think it proves that he is a good businessman (even though not all of his creations were that successful) but it goes to show that you can have the best business out there with the right people, the right products, the right market, the right prices, the right everything, yet still have to call in the administrators.

It'll be interesting to see what and how today's developments affect the Virgin Group as a whole, even though they don't have direct involvement in Zavvi.

I agree with you though with the last comment. Wasn't it Bob Geldof who said that there's nothing better than walking into a record shop and talking to the staff about the latest releases? Think the same applies to going into HMV and Zavvi, and looking through games, CDs, DVDs etc. You never know what gems are on the shelves!

Getting back to Zavvi, I think one of it's main problems (along with VM before SRB sold up) was that it specialised too much on current scene stuff and don't hold in stock a wide library of products, whereas in HMV you can get stuff that could be considered 'rarer' or older items.