HMV Singapore still in business, but for how long?

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Earlier in January, Britain’s last big music retailer entered a form of bankruptcy, reportedly losing business to internet music downloads.

A visit to a HMV outlet in Singapore at 313@Somerset (it has another outlet at Marina Square) on a Monday evening (5 February) saw about 20 customers casually browsing through its wares, and five staff members busy tending to customers’ questions and requests.

There was no obvious sign that HMV Singapore feels the threat of an impending closure. There was also no signage suggesting a fire sale apart from an ongoing Chinese New Year offer of 40-per-cent discount on selected buys. Its stockist remains up-to-date with the latest albums by Justin Bieber (‘Believe Acoustic’) and Taylor Swift’s ‘Red’ available.

However, inSing News spotted some empty and unlabelled shelves (pictured) in one corner of the store.

Repercussions of the 92-year-old UK entertainment retail chain announcing its bankruptcy is already being felt, with the company firing 190 employees from its head office and distribution network as a "necessary step in restructuring the business".

AFP reported that a former employee, furious at being let go, hijacked HMV’s official Twitter account last Thursday (31 January).

Tweets of “mass execution of loyal employees” and “We’re tweeting live from HR where we're all being fired! Exciting!!” were seen before they were removed 20 minutes later.

In a previous report, HMV outlets in Singapore, Hong Kong and Ireland were said to be not included in the “insolvency process” and it was “business is as usual until further notice”.

When approached for an updated comment regarding HMV UK’s decision to go into administration, a HMV Singapore spokesperson said that they were unable to comment until they received word from their regional office in Hong Kong.

The situation may be status quo for now, but it does bring back memories of US retail giant Borders Bookstores which closed all its Singapore outlets in 2011. Once the US parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2011, it was a slow and excruciating seven months before the once-popular bookstore finally folded.

Music lovers and shoppers can only hope the same fate does not await HMV Singapore.