HMV's Oxford Street store reopens its doors after four years

The entertainment chain is hosting a raft of bands with live performances including Madness to celebrate its reopening. Credit: PA Images

Record shop HMV is back open for business in its original Oxford Street location after a four-year absence.

Owner Doug Putman celebrated the reopening as a “great moment” in the chain’s recovery.

The entertainment chain is hosting famous bands such as Madness, when it welcomes customers to the shop it first opened in 1921.

HMV shut the store in 2019 after the retail chain tumbled into administration and was forced to axe stores and jobs.

The retailer was rescued from insolvency by Canadian Doug Putman’s Sunrise Records business.

Owner of HMV, Doug Putman, with the ionic dog from the logo called Holly outside the new HMV store. Credit: PA Images

Putman said he hopes the shop can have “crowds which will shut down the street” again, harking back to memorable visits including Michael Jackson, the Spice Girls and Sir Paul McCartney.

The entrepreneur, who recently attempted to buy fellow high street chain Wilko from collapse, said the chain has returned after striking a better deal with the shop’s landlord.

“It is a pretty great moment for us, coming back here after four years away,” he told PA.

“Getting another location in London was an immediate priority and as it became more obvious that the rent and rate situation here had improved and the landlord was open to discussions, we just felt it would be the right move to come back to somewhere with such history to us.”

The shop will have merchandise lines, vinyl albums and CDs, Blu-rays and DVDs, as well as music technology products. Credit: PA Images

HMV will reclaim its flagship residence from at 363 Oxford Street from an American sweet shop.

HMV said the shop will become the largest entertainment store in London and is expected to draw appearances and signings by renowned musicians to its “purpose-built performance floor”.

The store is expected to draw appearances and signings by renowned musicians to a purpose-built performance floor. Credit: PA Images

It will stock more than 4,000 popular culture merchandise lines, some 20,000 vinyl albums and CDs, in excess of 8,000 4kUHD, Blu-rays and DVDs, as well as music technology products.

The opening follows a significant turnaround in trading at the retailer under Mr Putman’s ownership, which has seen it return to profitability amid increased focus on vinyl, live gigs and merchandise.