// HMV returns to 363 Oxford Street to reopen its London flagship
// The store is creating a hub for fans of pop culture, with the business is confident the store will be its latest success story
HMV is set to make a return to Oxford Street after a four-year absence, with the reopening of its flagship on 363 Oxford Street later this year.
The flagship will feature the entertainment retailer‘s new logo, and be fitted out with the new ‘hmv shop’ concept.
The new store is expected to stock a huge range of pop culture merchandise, vinyl, film, TV and music technology.
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Hmv’s move back central London location represents the latest sign of a dramatic turnaround of the business under Canadian owner Doug Putman, who first took the reins in 2019.
The first store featuring the new layout and offering opened back in July 2021 in Solihull on the business’s 100th Birthday.
The concept will have been taken to 24 new sites and retrofitted to 14 of the existing estate by the end of the year.
By 2024, half of the hmv estate will have been converted to ‘the hmv Shop’, representing a significant transition for the business.
The retailer currently has 120 shops across the UK, including a West London location in Westfield, the specialist Fopp store in Covent Garden, and the 25,000 sq ft Vault in Birmingham, which is Europe’s largest entertainment store.
Doug Putman said: “The expansion of our fan-focused pop culture offer is really working for us and the reopening of our flagship represents the culmination of a good few years of hard work. We are also opening stores in Europe this year, so while it is the culmination of one phase of work, more excitingly we see it as the launchpad for an exciting new era for hmv.”
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