HMV: Has more vigour

Here's something that I don't think anyone was expecting to be reading a couple of years back: HMV is thriving.

Yes, HMV.

Yes, it's doing quite well:

The UK music retailer has opened 14 new stores this year, with another three planned before Christmas. This is in stark contrast to early 2013 when the business collapsed under £176m of debt and 80 of its 223 shops were shut. It was rescued by the retail turnaround firm Hilco, which took on 141 high street stores and 2,600 employees.

And turn around it has - mostly by not making the mistakes of the past, and admitting it's not a technology shop, or a cinema, or a youth club. It's been helped by the vinyl revival - which it may be hoping isn't just a fad - and there's this, too:

HMV has made a rapid comeback on the high street, wresting the title of the UK’s biggest music and DVD retailer back from Amazon in January.

I suspect the Guardian actually means physical retailer there, and it's a bit of a double-edged honour; it's not that it's suddenly become a more powerful retailer, just that online, people are streaming or downloading a lot more, so why would you buy a CD from Amazon?

Still, while it lasts, it's a tribute to Hilco and the work they've done. There's life in the old dog yet.

Not sure how it'll fare in the coming market crash, though...