Music retailer and entertainment company HMV announced that it had officially entered administration. The company has appointed Deloitte as an administrator and the BBC reports that the latter will be keeping stores across the UK and Ireland open while it assesses HMV's situation and looks for buyers for the ailing high street retailer.
HMV opened in 1921 and operates over 270 stores across eight countries. So far, it's not clear how many countries will be affected by today's events, but it seems as though HMV's Canadian stores will be unaffected. Thanks to a sale to private equity firm Hilco last year, the Canadian stores are no longer a part of HMV Group PLC. This means they'll remain open despite the fact that the fate of their UK counterparts remains undecided.
"We generally believe this is an area that has life in it for a number of years yet," HMV Canada president Nick Williams told CTV News.
HMV has struggled for many years against digital distribution platforms like iTunes and Amazon, which both allow customers to purchase music instantly without leaving their homes. Though the stores also sell game consoles, video games and other merchandise in addition to music and DVDs. The BBC cites HMV as saying the board was unable to reach a position where it felt it was able to continue to trade outside of insolvency protection. The company also said it won't be honouring gift vouchers.
