I am glad I got rid of those vouchers, yet slightly annoyed that they seemed to have put big "vouchers available" signs up in every aisle this week.
I will miss them, and I will miss this thread.
I reckon, "suck it and see" must have been pretty dire for profits, much as I loved it myself.
― PJ Miller, Friday, 29 June 2007 13:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Would another retailer buy the Fopp chain / brand?
Tesco: Are always looking to expand
WHsmith: Once owned Our Price.
Woolworths: would they buy the Fopp Brand for a knock down price and once again enter the specialist music chain business.
― djmartian, Friday, 29 June 2007 14:02 (sixteen years ago) link
Sir Alan Sugar
― Tom D., Friday, 29 June 2007 14:03 (sixteen years ago) link
if they owe both employees and the bank then they are operating under a very different definition of "profitable" than the one most people i know are familiar with
Onimo is right. Many companies run with high levels of debt at the same time as being profitable. It's not realistic to fund operations with cash. But if they get to a situation when investors not only don't see a positive return in the medium term, but think they may actally lose money, with no prospect of ever getting it back, they'll cut and run.
― Dr.C, Friday, 29 June 2007 14:04 (sixteen years ago) link
Funny, I had to rescue this thread from "unanswered questions" before it managed to get going...
― Mark G, Friday, 29 June 2007 14:05 (sixteen years ago) link
PJM - I shall miss your exhortations for people to 'suck it and see' when ever they're not sure about a record. :)
I never used that facility myself. That must mean that I'm still sucking.
― Dr.C, Friday, 29 June 2007 14:07 (sixteen years ago) link
So...*cough*...anybody heard anything about a closing down sale?
― Matt #2, Friday, 29 June 2007 14:08 (sixteen years ago) link
That never happens
― Tom D., Friday, 29 June 2007 14:09 (sixteen years ago) link
Presumably distributors get their stock back - or some of it.
― Dr.C, Friday, 29 June 2007 14:11 (sixteen years ago) link
I remember the Virgin Megastore in Glasgow (beside Central Station) had a closing down sale - there were queues outside it - but that's the last one I remember
― Tom D., Friday, 29 June 2007 14:13 (sixteen years ago) link
It is thought the stores are closed temporarily and some may be re-opened once the administrator has examined the books.
So, who knows (as yet)
― Mark G, Friday, 29 June 2007 14:17 (sixteen years ago) link
I never reckoned much with the book section myself.
― NickB, Friday, 29 June 2007 14:20 (sixteen years ago) link
RIP Fopp. The best record store Leamington Spa ever had for sure. This stinks.
-- Ned Trifle II, Thursday, 28 June 2007 22:10 (Yesterday) Link
Amen - the internet will be the only option for me now :(
― tpp, Friday, 29 June 2007 14:28 (sixteen years ago) link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6252300.stm
― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 29 June 2007 14:41 (sixteen years ago) link
Analysts say that the chain has been hit by the rise of supermarkets and online retailers selling CDs and DVDs, as well as the surging popularity of downloading music from the internet.
I can't see supermarkets in direct competition with Fopp apart from new release indie albums, which were (I assume) a tiny part of Fopp's sales.
Where else can you pick up all this back catalogue stuff new, assuming you want a physical disk?
― onimo, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:06 (sixteen years ago) link
supermarkets are not the main competition for fopp.
― That one guy that quit, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:10 (sixteen years ago) link
Amazon. Often for the same price.
― Dr.C, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:11 (sixteen years ago) link
Internet sales are probably a bigger problem for high street stores than downloading, illegal or otherwise, I should think.
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:14 (sixteen years ago) link
Aye, that's my belief.
― Scik Mouthy, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:16 (sixteen years ago) link
Indeed. So why so many outlets?
― Tom D., Friday, 29 June 2007 15:17 (sixteen years ago) link
I thought most Amazon marketplace stuff was 2nd hand, or at least the stuff that was comparable with Fopp on price? Also Amazon marketplace = + postage.
Fopp's online shop was a bit of a mess to navigate for most of its life, I think the statement above re online/download sales is true for most retailers except Fopp.
― onimo, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:21 (sixteen years ago) link
Between Amazon and HMV.co.uk you can get pretty much anything at the price Fopp would have had it, I'd wager. It may be second-hand from a seller, or sourced from Caiman or whatever, or take two weeks, but it's do-able.
― Scik Mouthy, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:22 (sixteen years ago) link
but for how long?
― Mark G, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:23 (sixteen years ago) link
a lot of it is new + what nick said
― That one guy that quit, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:24 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah lots is brand new. Same for ebay shops.
― Dr.C, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:26 (sixteen years ago) link
In reality there aren't many big players in the UK online CD shopping market in the UK:
big 3 "internet only" e-commerce CD retailers
Amazon (the market leaders) CD-Wow (limited range) Play.com
lesser known:
Powerplay direct Streetsonline / Audiostreet thehut.com
Specialists retailers that have e-commerce websites: HMV Virgin Megastores
major retailers that sell CDs on-line: Asda Boots [powered by theHut.com] WHSmith Woolworths Tesco
Sainsburys have stopped selling CDs on-line.
― djmartian, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:36 (sixteen years ago) link
You're forgetting something: www.ebay.co.uk
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:42 (sixteen years ago) link
eBay is an e-commerce platform made up of many sellers
http://music.ebay.co.uk/
― djmartian, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:49 (sixteen years ago) link
Thanks for that link - not sure it'll catch on though.
― Matt DC, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:52 (sixteen years ago) link
rofl
― onimo, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:52 (sixteen years ago) link
Yes, I know, but since we're talking about websites taking business away from high street stores, Ebay is huge.
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:52 (sixteen years ago) link
xpost!
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:53 (sixteen years ago) link
It's cheaper for me to buy cds and lps from the USA, even with their recent hike in postage charges.
― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 29 June 2007 15:56 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah, a few times lately I've ordered stuff from Amazon.com and even with $7 postage it generally works out at only about $20 or so, and current exchange rate makes that a tenner, there or thereabouts.
― Scik Mouthy, Friday, 29 June 2007 16:11 (sixteen years ago) link
gotta watch out for customs :(
― That one guy that quit, Friday, 29 June 2007 16:12 (sixteen years ago) link
Not if it's a 'gift' which it will be if the seller has any sense
― DJ Mencap, Friday, 29 June 2007 16:24 (sixteen years ago) link
I got busted a couple of times by customs ordering from CDNow way back when. There's still a limit for gifts, but I think it's quite a bit higher.
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 29 June 2007 16:25 (sixteen years ago) link
caiman have stiffed me twice on that score. it was still cheaper than uk though.
― That one guy that quit, Friday, 29 June 2007 16:25 (sixteen years ago) link
I must say I balked at paying the $7 postage charge US->UK the other day. Monsieur le Fopp's £5 and £6 racks really have spoiled me! Now I even quibble at paying more than $12 (inc postage) on Amazon marketplace. :(
/stingygit
― Jeff W, Friday, 29 June 2007 16:49 (sixteen years ago) link
how do you afford to buy so many cds and lps, Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy?
― RJG, Friday, 29 June 2007 17:27 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm up for buying and running one of the fopp stores. I reckon I can contribute £300 but I'll need a bit more. Anyone wanta help?
― bakerstreetsaxsolo, Friday, 29 June 2007 17:32 (sixteen years ago) link
wait actually, I'll sell all my CDs and Records on eBay becuse I wont need a personal collection when i OWN A FOPP.
So I still think I need a couple hundred-thousand from someone. Who fancies it?
― bakerstreetsaxsolo, Friday, 29 June 2007 17:33 (sixteen years ago) link
Ernst & Young press release:
Fopp Ltd (in Receivership) & Music Zone 2007 Ltd (In Administration) http://tinyurl.com/yvsx2c
― djmartian, Friday, 29 June 2007 18:02 (sixteen years ago) link
The Times are reporting this:
Virgin Megastores fails to rescue rival Fopp http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article2005501.ece
The Fopp music chain has closed all stores after a plan to merge with Virgin Megastores failed to win supplier support
― djmartian, Friday, 29 June 2007 18:32 (sixteen years ago) link
Do these "suppliers" have a problem with someone selling CDs for them?
― onimo, Friday, 29 June 2007 18:33 (sixteen years ago) link
In a deal negotiated by Virign Retail's chief Simon Douglas, with Fopp's managing director David Pryde, who once ran Our Price records,
I think I may have spotted one of the problems at Fopp.
― Ned Trifle II, Friday, 29 June 2007 18:54 (sixteen years ago) link
ha, This bloke: David Pryde
― djmartian, Friday, 29 June 2007 18:57 (sixteen years ago) link
David Pryde, was also previously HMV Managing Director in the early part of this decade.
― djmartian, Friday, 29 June 2007 19:00 (sixteen years ago) link
interesting article from 3 years back: in The Scotsman: Fri 9 Jan 2004
Gordon Montgomery has built Fopp from a single stall in 1981 into a major chain. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=26252004
― djmartian, Friday, 29 June 2007 20:08 (sixteen years ago) link
When Fopp opened their first store in the centre of London - 4-5 years ago - it really was an eye-opener. Their buyers seemed to be sourcing some GREAT bargains from across Europe,and the inspired company policy of pricing classic back cat at a fiver (or less) made almost anything seem worthy of a suck and a see. I know for a fact that along w/ general rec collecting scum, London HMV management types were all over the shop, and there's no doubt in my mind that Fopp's example and expansion initiated the across-the-board price decreases that occured in both the Virgin and HMV chains 2-3 years ago (tho of course, the discs you really really want never seem to make it into a sale - but that's another story...) 'Suck and See' was a good gimmick/'brand' but actually the shop's returns policy was really no different than HMV's returns policy (I think even now if you kick up enough of a stink over the price of a £5 CD you will prob get yr cash back from any of the High St Rec Shops)
Over time, Fopp seemed to be sourcing less and less interesting cheap gd stuff, and you were as likely to find a bargain in HMV, particularly on DVDS. Fopp cldn't really compete w/ HMV's market share/purchasing power, and were often actually more expensive on new product than HMV, Tesco or Amazon.
In Glasgow, their takeover of the Music Zone shops resulted in the closure of two (including a 'megastore' round the corner from Fopp that had been open for less than a month) and the transformation of the third, on Sauchiehall St, into a glum dump devoid of bargains or charm. A shame, because the old Music Stores in Glasgow were very good sources of cheap DVDs
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 29 June 2007 20:32 (sixteen years ago) link