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The demise of HMV last week was a stark reminder of how much has
changed on the British High Street in such a small period of time. How we purchase music is a useful lens
through which we can understand what is happening to our town centres and
potentially what the solutions might be.
Previously, before the days when we could buy music online, we
feared for the survival of independent record shops who were being squeezed out
of existence by the corporate behemoths of HMV, Virgin Megastore and Borders. Now, however, there is no longer a recognisable High Street multiple shop that specialises in
music, and this says an awful lot about how we have transferred our music
consumption and indeed our broader shopping habits from the High Street to the
internet.
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| HMV represented the last major chain High Street music shop |
The threat faced by small record shops in the early noughties was
highlighted by the then-seminal Clone
Town Britain report, published by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in 2004 and updated in 2010. These publications lamented the loss of identity and
the destruction of local distinctiveness by the gradual take-over of town
centres by national chains. These concerns seem strangely anachronistic from
the far more perilous situation that High Streets face in 2013. Many people in
the UK would just be happy with a full town centre in 2013, never mind worrying
about whether the shops were local or not.
The retreat of retail from High Streets is alarming when when one
considers the recent figures from the Centre
for Retail Research. Since 2007:
• 231 retailers have ceased to trade
• 23,284 stores have closed
• 209,127 jobs have been lost
These figures include well known names such as: Comet, JJB Sports,
Game, Borders, Barratts, T J Hughes, Jane Norman, Habitat, Focus DIY,
Floors-2-Go, the Officers Club, Oddbins, Ethel Austin, Faith Shoes, Jessops,
Adams Childrenswear, Principles, Sofa Workshop, Allied Carpets, Viyella,
Dewhursts, Woolworths, MFI, and Zavvi/Virgin Megastore, Peacocks and now HMV.
One of the many reasons for these casualties is that the business model
for retail has been transformed by the maturity of internet shopping. After
many years of trying, retailers have
finally learned how to sell things to people online just at the same
time that the world seemed to switch from ugly beige desktop computers tucked
away in spare bedrooms to laptops and then to smartphones and tablets which
could be used from the comfort of the sofa. Clearly, this shift to web based
purchasing (as well as theft!) of music has hit the multiple record shops hard.
This has meant that we have seen a substantial erosion of the
commercial base of the average High Street. The loss is staggering and the
Centre for Retail Research figures do not include the downsizing of big name
retailers such as Mothercare and Thorntons who seem to have drawn the Siegfried
Line at the provincial cities (such as Cardiff) and out of town locations to
make sure they do not become the next casualty. This additional pressure is
leaving the traditional High Street in many towns with a highly questionable
commercial proposition.
Rather than take over our High Streets and diminish High Street distinctiveness as NEF feared, the retreat of
multiples has actually created
a kind of dispiriting void which, in many towns won't be filled by retail at any
time for the foreseeable future. Record shops were probably one of the first sectors of the High
Street to be affected by changing consumer trends so perhaps other small
retailers, Local Authorities, regeneration practitioners and policy makers can
learn from record shop owners?
What is impressive is the way that, as a sub-sector, independent
record shops have banded together. Between them they have gradually nurtured
within their customers an intense loyalty. This is perfectly illustrated in the
growing success of the annual National Record Store Day which has grown into
a celebration of these stores, the service that they offer (which can’t be
matched online or in a supermarket) and a way of promoting the virtues of the
immersive ‘in-store experience’.
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| Independent record stores are taking innovative steps to attract new business and foster a sense of loyalty |
Moreover, independent record stores have focused on a niche by
concentrating on selling vinyl and not singles, games or DVDs. Critically, the
indie record shops have met the specific needs of their (often knowledgeable)
walk-in customers, whilst supplementing this with online sales to create an
offer that is gaining, rather than losing, momentum and has outlasted its
corporate rivals.
Whilst most successful High Streets require a good balance of
independent businesses and national chains to be successful there is much that
can be achieved from small businesses when they work collectively,
collaboratively and imaginatively.
What is interesting is that these traders have targeted the quality of the experience, both in
bricks and mortar experience, online experience and the social media campaigns
that remind people they are still there.
Perhaps this progressive approach by one group of retailers could be
broadened throughout whole towns to create a culture of regeneration that
depends upon on collective, collaborative
and imaginative initiatives? Certainly a ‘whole town’ approach that
promotes the importance of the experience
at every level is going to be something that flourishing town centres will all
have in common. Those that can’t grasp this, I’m afraid will go the same way as
HMV.
