HMV is to return to Oxford Street after a four year absence, replacing one of the districts largest candy stores that sprung up during the pandemic.
The music store will open in its former flagship store near Bond Street Station by the end of the month, after a four year absence in Central London.
At its peak, HMV had two stores on Europe’s busiest high street, the latter being the space now occupied by Sports Direct opposite Poland Street.
363 Oxford Street, which was HMV’s first store opened in 1921, was last vacated by the company in 2019, the same year the 103-year-old brand was acquired by Canadian music chain Sunrise Records.
The famous unit stood empty for several months before becoming home to one of the road’s many american candy stores during the pandemic, operating under a string of different names including Candy World.
The famous HMV “His Master’s Voice” sign, a replica of the store’s 1950s logo featuring mascot Nipper the Dog with a phonograph, has since been replaced by a House of Candy sign.
Councillor Geoff Barraclough, Cabinet Member for Planning said: “It’s fantastic to see this iconic brand back on Oxford Street, where it stood as a driver of music an pop culture in the capital for so long. It’s also particularly pleasing it is replacing one of the many US candy stores which sprang up during the pandemic.
“The return of this famous name is proof that there’s a buzz back in the West End. Established retailers want a presence on the UK’s premier shopping street as a council we want to see the nation’s high street reinvigorated and home to brands like HMV.”
He added that he bought his first LP in a HMV store as a teenager, and that the opening would allow him to “relive that experience”.
Doug Putman, the Chief Executive of Sunrise Records 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.
Image: Google.
[…] stores that they are returning to Central London. Last week, music store HMV announced it would return to its flagship Oxford Street store replacing House of […]