Doug Putman, HMV

0:13Hello and welcome to this special episode of the Monaco Weekly. I'm Fernando Augusto Pacheco, and for today's show I speak with the owner of HMV, Doug Putman. We talk about the reopening of their iconic flagship store in Oxford Street.

0:411921 was when this all started but to be able to get open again on Oxford Street but specifically in this exact building is unbelievable I mean the first time I ever visited the UK was in 2015 for my mom's 60th birthday and I walked through this specific store obviously didn't own it and I remember saying to my family like man I can't believe whoever owns this how lucky they are like what a great spot and so now fast forward you know eight years later to be able to sit here and be able to be you know a big part of it is like it's so awesome it's fantastic tell us because of course the record store and what is a record store have changed throughout the years and And for a period, even the music industry was quite pessimistic.

1:22Everybody was online. I mean, but there is a future for the record store. I mean, I think you're the man actually that can actually answer that. Yeah, I mean, I obviously think there's a great future in this. I mean, if you think about it, it all started when, you know, you could download and that was going to be the end of it. And then in came Apple and then you could, you know, buy a song and that was going to be the end of it. And now it's streaming and that's going to be the end of it. But the reality is it's really hard to get rid of a format. I mean, when I first bought Sunrise back and I think it was 2013, the buyer there said to me, CDs are dead.

1:54You know, it's just inevitable. It's over. And if you look at it, we actually had growth in CD this year for HMV. So I think the idea that this is going away is not going to happen. We've got customers that are coming in. You know, the assortment changes, where you focus changes. Obviously, if you walk through the store, you can see there's more pop culture. There's more band merchandise. There's a lot more vinyl. there's record players, you know, that's all stuff that's changed. If we go back 10 years ago, that really wasn't there. So I think the future still looks pretty good. H &B is back profitable again, which is fantastic.

2:29So, you know, from my perspective, H &B has got a great future. There used to be some concerts here at this precise address. Do you have any plans with that in mind? Yeah, we've taken one floor of the building and it's just a venue. It's got a stage with some great acoustics. So I think, you know, we totally think we're going to get some great acts and bands to come and play and I think that'll be a big part of what we do is getting signings and you know I think having some lesser-known artists be able to come here and play so a hundred percent it's really about making it an overall great experience.

3:01That's amazing and tell us what is interesting that you mentioned you were talking to the landlord there was something Oxford Street especially here in London in recent years people say oh it might have been declining a little bit, perhaps too many candy stores, which I was not a big fan, I've got to be honest. But do you think that's the process of the recovery of the street, of this such an iconic street in not only London, but all over Europe? Yeah, I mean, look, this is such an iconic street. And I think you're starting to see some of the better brands and bigger brands come back. You know, I think the health of a street really comes down to having some diversity on the street.

3:39If you have 30 candy shops, it's not going to be very good. No different if you had 30 souvenir shops. It's not very good. Do you need a souvenir shop? 100%. Do you need a candy shop? For sure. But one. And so, you know, I think it's starting to change. I believe that Oxford Street is going to be great. It's just going to take a little bit more time. But you can see even walking out today, just the traffic on the street is unbelievable. So I think the more brands that come and open up, I think the better the street's going to become. And let's talk about music formats again. And I was so happy when you mentioned that CD sales are on the rise.

4:14Because I love vinyls, but I actually love CDs and I still buy it. But you see even artists like Taylor Swift. I mean, artists are releasing different types of CDs. Is that also part of what you're going to sell here at HMV? 100%. Our goal is that we have anything that helps the fan get even closer with their artist. And so we have a lot of customers who will come in and they want the vinyl, they want the CD. and some, you know, you've got a lot of bands that are releasing a cassette tape now. So, you know, I think for us, it's important to offer all the formats and to have them available and let the customer decide.

4:49But HMV is not moving away from CD. It's not moving away from DVD. We're still very much about those things and supporting them. So again, I think there's, I mean, who would think that you'd be selling cassette tapes? So I think it just shows you there is more resilience out there in some of these formats than I think a lot of people realize. And not only with HMV, but even with other brands, you've always been a man that believes in the physical space. Look, it's a really interesting thing because, you know, pre-COVID, it was, OK, well, online is going to take over. And then COVID happened and it was that's the end of physical retail.

5:26And obviously, during the COVID lockdowns, you saw, you know, online grow and the physical store declined. But coming out of that, you've seen that online is shrinking and that, you know, the growth is coming back to actual shopping. I think in a world where you can order everything on your phone and everything is becoming somewhat easier, whether it's your groceries, you know, what are we going to do? Just sit at home all day? I think the experience of coming out and being in stores is great, but it's on the retailer to have a great experience. The stores need to be clean. They need to look good.

5:58You need to have experienced staff. Those are all really hard things to do, especially in a chain of 100 stores to keep those standards up. I think as long as you have the experience, that brick and mortar store is going to be here. And so from my perspective, I continue to invest in the high street. I continue to invest in stores. And if you look at everything that I own, whether it's Toys R Us or Sunrise Records, these are all very strong brick and mortar businesses. So I will continue to focus there. And Doug, at least from my view, I mean, and there is a gap in the market. If you look at a city like London, of course, I know HMV is still present and you have the nice independent stores and Soho and everything.

6:40But I think we need also kind of a large shop that deals with film, kind of popular culture with music as well. There was a gap, I think, in the market. Yeah, I think we believe so, too. And if you look at the amount of sales that this location was doing back in 2019, you know, that left the market. And so, you know, this ultimately should end up being the largest store for HMB from a sales perspective. So I think that 100 % leads you to say that, yeah, there's a gap there. So we just want to make sure we fill that gap. Are you a music man yourself? What do you like to listen, if I may ask? Yeah, yeah, no, I'm super open on my tastes.

7:17It really depends the mood I'm in. But, you know, I always say, like, I love Taylor Swift, but I love Fleetwood Mac and Black Sabbath, you know, Brandy Carlisle. There's lots of artists that I enjoy listening to. So I think just depending on the mood, right, I'll listen. But I'm not a music snob. I'm open to anything. So, yeah, it's just really whatever. I'm good. That's fantastic. And tell us, I mean, it's opening. It's Christmas season. It's a great time to open, I have to say. What else can you tell us about the plans for next year? You mentioned that you have a floor that might be used for events, for gigs.

7:51That's super exciting. Yeah, I mean, I think we're hoping to get a couple of AAA artists in here to put on some nice intimate events. And an artist can sell out a stadium of 20 ,000, 30 ,000 people, and that's great. But there's something different about playing to a couple hundred people. And I think we can offer that right downtown in London. We'll have a focus on that. And then, you know, for HMV in the future, look, we'll look at more opportunities in London and elsewhere. And when it makes sense, we'll continue to open more stores. I mean, every year the H &B store count since I've owned it has grown.

8:24And so I think we're hopeful that in 2024 we'll see that store count grow again. We've obviously just opened in Ireland. And then we got our Belgium, our first European store open today, actually, is its first day open. Yeah, so exciting. And let's talk about the staff as well. Because I remember when I moved to London as a student, I always wanted to work in a record store. is the place how is it i mean i'm sure this is creating a lot of jobs as well actually yeah i mean obviously we employ several thousand people and you know this store will be a great add-on for sure for that you know i think the nice thing is people who work here love it you know i think that's the thing is like you try never to hire someone who isn't passionate about what we do and i think it's really important that we have those standards on hiring you know you want people who love film or love music or love pop culture.

9:16You don't have to be an expert at everything, but it's important when people come in and say, oh, can you recommend something? I think it's a really important thing that they can recommend from their own experience. Say, I really like this. It doesn't mean the customer will, but those are the kind of people we want to have, people who actually, it is a job, I understand that, but actually enjoy their job. It's a really important thing. By the way, I hope you're still selling DVDs here. Of course. Because I have an issue with the streamers. I mean, some films you can't find it. Sometimes it's more actually expensive than actually buying a DVD.

9:46So DVDs are still in, right? Yeah, we've got a whole floor dedicated to DVD, Blu-ray, 4K. So whole entire floor is dedicated to it. So again, you know what? We're going to be super focused on that. We've got a floor of CD. We've got a floor of vinyl, floor of pop culture. So we're very focused on what we do.

10:11That was Doug Putman there, HMV owner. And the Oxford Street Store is open to the public now. The Monaco Weekly was edited by Holly Fisher and Steph Chungo. And I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco.