HMV tops ups its pop ups and finds a new outlet for its retail offer.

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Following a successful trial last year, HMV is again opening a number

of short-lease trading stores (SLT).

More popularly known as 'pop-up-shops' the SLTs will cater to the increased consumer demand for music, film and games titles in the run up to Christmas, when around 40% of entertainment purchases tend to be made each year.
 
HMV is opening eighteen short-lease trading stores from this weekend through to the early part of November, which will then trade for an 8-12 week period to take them into the early part of 2011, with the possibility that a handful of sites may even be made permanent.
 
The stores will be situated in a broad mix of locations - some in larger towns where HMV already trades and which will help to meet heavy Christmas demand, and also in numerous locations new to HMV or where there is currently no or just a limited entertainment retail offer available to the public.

The planned sites are in Altrincham, Andover, Bedford, Cardiff*, Carmarthen, Chatham, Dunfermline, Fareham, Hull*, Kendal, Kidderminster, Sheffield Meadowhall*, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Rugby, Slough, Sutton Coldfield, Thurrock* and Weston-super-mare (* sites where an HMV already operates a store).

The stores will, on average, trade around 2,000 square feet, and will
generally carry a key selection of chart, campaign and catalogue titles and products across music, films and games primarily with the gift purchaser in mind.  Stores will employ upto 10 - 15 locally-recruited seasonal work colleagues who will come under the supervision of existing store and/or assistant managers.

The figure is roughly double the ten SLT stores that HMV opened last
year,five of which - Bluewater, Burnley, Bury, Loughborough and Torquay went on to become permanent sites.
 
In a related move, HMV is also adding to its number of Outlet stores, which focus primarily on campaign-related offers across music, film and games. HMV has operated a store in the Portsmouth Gunwharf outlet centre for a number of years, but has now just opened or is about to open additional outlet stores in Banbridge (Northern Ireland), Braintree, Bridgend (28/10) and Swindon.  In keeping with the promotions-based nature of the outlet centres, which feature many leading fashion and other well-known consumer brands, the hmvoutlet stores will effectively run permanent, year-round campaigns under such banners as Clearout and 2 for £10.

HMV Group Property Director Mark Bowles comments "There are many more ways now to extend customer choice and cater to demand for entertainment products, and short-term stores and outlets can be a highly effective way of complementing our main retail offer and creating even greater added-value for consumers.

"The short-term 'pop-up' stores proved highly popular last year, so much so that we made half of them into permanent sites, and this time around we are nearly doubling the number that we are planning to open around the country.  To my mind they can play a highly valuable role - either in supporting existing HMV stores to respond to the massive surge in demand you get in the run up to Christmas or by extending a specialist entertainment selection to locations where traditionally there is none.  Hence, this Q4 HMV will be opening in the likes of Cardiff, Hull and Sheffield Meadowhall, where it already trades successfully, whilst also launching in new locations as diverse as Dunfermline in Scotland and Kendal in the Lake District in the North to Weston-super-mare in the South-West."

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