HMV...I've been in the Big Store on Yonge Street in Toronto. It was a little loud and glitzy for me. But still...

It's a company with a long, proud history. It would be a shame to see it go.

We've used the Oxford Street branch (which was the very first one opened by Sir Edward Elgar) for years.

The Classical Longplayer in Canterbury shut up shop some time back. :o(

Looks like our pals, Liz Leatherdale at the online Colchester Classics and Pete and Heather Heywood at the folk based Living Tradition will be getting even more of our trade in future!

It's a long time since I bought music anywhere but on line.

We've had comparable problems in small towns all over the U.S. Many of them are reinventing themselves with some success as dining/entertainment venues sprinkled with artsy shoppes. In larger cities (such as Philadelphia) there is of course an urban core that's happy to fork over big money for artisan cheeses and chocolates, etc.

A lot of British High Streets are filling up with charity shops.

I don't suppose the really swish locales- like Market Street in Manchester- are under any real threat.

Asking people to abandon the Internet and returning to the High Street sounds like Canute trying to stop the waves coming up around him. Having said that, HMV never had the right type of knowledgeable staff on music and i have always found the independent retailer to be more aware of music. Hopefully they will find a solution but i do think with Virgin gone as a mass music retailer I am surprised that HMV managed to continue.

I think you've put your finger on something there. The only music shops that are likely to flourish in future are ones that can offer specialist knowledge and expertise.

I'm personally not that surprised.

I've always tried to buy from HMV wherever possible, even when I have to pay up to twice as much for the same product, but it's the product range that I just can't cope with. I only visit the store (and the high street) once a month, and usually spend around £20 each time, but I can't really justify ordering and pick up the product the following week.

I think if a lot more well-intentioned folk had made the decision to go out of their way to support their local high streets on a semi-regular basis, then many on these chains would still be operating. It's a damned shame. Do we really want our high streets full of night clubs, wine bars and empty premises? I know that I don't.

I don't have any particular affection for the traditional High Street. Things change. I think we need to be thinking of other uses for our town centres.

As a tourist, I personally detest visiting 'dead' high streets and knowing I have to get back to the hotel/B & B before 9pm because that's when all the half-drunk a***-***e zombie drunkards come rolling through the streets laughing and jeering and shouting abuse at anyone unfortunate enought to encounter them because the town centre's just a mass of nightclubs and very little else.

Okay, so the chains are a bit samey? At least they bring income and jobs, and create a use for sometimes-spectacular buildings, often old structures forming a historic core which gives a town/city character and sets it apart as an individual entity. Without a use, these buildings become derelict, fall apart and are usually replaced by something bland, soulless and completely lacking in imagination.

I mourn its passing.

I take your point.

But I can't see the shops returning. I even wonder sometimes whether we really needs towns anymore.