Anime in UK Retail (HMV discussion)

The huge HMV on Princes St in Edinburgh was closed recently and is going to be replaced by the high class establishment known as Sports Direct :( It always had a decent if expensive anime selection. Luckily Fopp down the road is still going OK, though it doesn't have quite the same selection. What it does have though, is a most excellent world cinema selection. I'll quite often get a random J-movie or 2 in there for £3 each. HMV has been booted out to a shopping centre on the direct opposite side of town from me. It'd take me well over an hour to get there on the bus so it doesn't seem worth it. Last thing I actually bought from an HMV was Black Butler Season 1 DVD boxset, as the one in the centre of York had it on offer for £12.99 when I was there a few weeks ago.
 
I remember in the period around when HMV went into its administration period, they had tonnes of anime on sale constantly in terms of stock clearance as they moved to get rid of excess stock and close down certain stores. You could frequently pick up loads of random Manga releases for less than £10 a DVD.

Unfortunately, the prices have been pretty high for the most part since then. I remember the One Piece releases were something like £33-£39 a go.
 
Aw, nooooo! I didn't even know the Princes St HMV had closed down. That's a total disaster.

I'm not there often, but that's where I got my Mardock Scramble BD trilogy, Madoka: Rebellion, Steins;Gate, Harlock...

I'm gutted. :(

And angry. F***ing Sports Direct.
 
We still have a good sized HMV here but I rarely buy anything from it for the same reason that sent them out of business first time around - The prices are just far too high compared to online. HMV used to be pretty great for online ordering themselves until HMRC closed the Jersey tax loophole (which also ruined Play.com).

Demelza said:
Reading through this thread makes me realise how lucky I am living in Leeds. ^^;

Our Waterstones has about 4 book-cases of stuff and then a couple of other displays as well for the popular series. Although if you want manga in this city then I much prefer to go to my local comic store, Travelling Man, who have a smaller collection than Waterstones but always tend to have the stuff I want. We have a Forbidden Planet as well.
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Leeds Waterstones is (perhaps was if they've charged the decor from dark to light there like they have here) one of my favourite shops in existence in the UK. As well as the vast selection of books I just liked being there in general, many memories of time spent in the coffee shop and looking at all the big expensive art and photography books on the top floor that I couldn't afford. Familiar with the others too, glad to hear they're still going.
 
My local HMV in Dundee has a very good anime section, recently expanded.

They've always been great at having Manga's new releases on the day (both DVD and Blu-ray), and most of MVM's during the first week. They don't get a lot of Anime Limited's releases in, but you can order them in store. That's what I did with The Place Promised in Our Early Days, and HMV's price for that (£19.99) is the lowest I've seen anywhere, AL's own web shop included.

I find that when HMV do have AL titles on the shelves, their price can be the cheapest you'll see. I got Terror in Resonance on DVD for just £14.99, and they had the standard BD/DVD combo of Patema Inverted for a shockingly low £9.99 at one point!

I ordered my Miss Hokusai Ultimate Edition in store as well, because I didn't want the wooden box/o-card getting damaged in the post. It cost a couple of pounds extra, but it was well worth it because I got my copy in absolutely mint-condition. :)
 
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If HMV's prices were a bit more reasonable instore I would end up shopping there more. I do like the satisfaction of buying something, and walking out of the store with it. It is an experience that is becoming rarer, and rarer these days with faster/more reliable online options.
 
crashmatt said:
I went into HMV Exeter in the summer they had an excellent anime section. They just need to sort out the insane pricing.
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There's not really much they can do about that, retail stores have much higher overheads than online retailers and they have to cover their costs somehow. Unless they fire half the staff, their landlords lower the rents or government lowers the business rates they literally cannot afford to sell their products any cheaper.

Interesting what Neil.T says though, I can't say I've noticed these lower prices in-store myself but then I probably don't browse very thoroughly unless I know there's a sale on.
 
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Neil.T said:
My local HMV in Dundee has a very good anime section, recently expanded.
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Is that the one on Murraygate, just near the entrance to the Wellgate? Was a pretty poor selection last I was there, but will be there over Christmas visiting family, will have to try and take a look if it's much improved!
 
Joe said:
Is that the one on Murraygate, just near the entrance to the Wellgate? Was a pretty poor selection last I was there, but will be there over Christmas visiting family, will have to try and take a look if it's much improved!
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That's the very one, dude. The anime section got expanded a couple of months ago. I hope they've got a good selection when you visit: I'm feeling the pressure now after talking it up! ;)

I'm mean, it'll never be on par with Glasgow Argyle St or what Edinburgh Princes St had, but I'd feel lost without it. I remember when our section was down to a lowly three shelves, but now it's up to 12.

Lambadelta said:
I do like the satisfaction of buying something, and walking out of the store with it. It is an experience that is becoming rarer, and rarer these days with faster/more reliable online options.
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Yes! You've hit the nail on the head there! :)

Also, speaking personally, I'm inclined to spend a wee bit more for that. It means you can get your DVD or Blu-ray right there and then, and get that very copy. No need for a random copy sent through the post with damaged packaging or a scuffed loose disc. I hate that.

ayase said:
There's not really much they can do about that, retail stores have much higher overheads than online retailers and they have to cover their costs somehow. Unless they fire half the staff, their landlords lower the rents or government lowers the business rates they literally cannot afford to sell their products any cheaper.

Interesting what Neil.T says though, I can't say I've noticed these lower prices in-store myself but then I probably don't browse very thoroughly unless I know there's a sale on.
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I totally agree with ayase about costs. Also, I notice that the Dundee branch still has a copy of Kill la Kill part 3 on BD from when it came out, priced at £14.99. I know their price has gone up to £19.99 now, but at that time HMV was cheapest, I think. :)
 
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The HMV here stocks a few anime but other than the Ghibli films and a few titles like Akira the rest are DVD with no fancy editions and such in sight, which is fine by me! My CEX seems to have like 5 copies of Parasyte for some reason, and oddly enough I spotted a copy of the Perfect Blue CE Blu-ray.
 
As I mentioned elsewhere my nearest HMV (Livingston) had a tiny anime section, it's even smaller now that they have moved the shop around and most of it is DVDs, like the BDs take up about one and a half shelves on the anime rack (yes, only one shelving rack at about 5ft tall) and most of that is Ghibli :/ I guess with internet shopping being a thing it's not the end of the world but it would be nice if they had a bit more selection (they did have Seraph of the End Part 2 CE in, as well as Fate Stay Night Box 2 oddly enough....).
 
Here on the Isle of Wight there is no place to buy Anime. We have two tiny WH.Smiths that don't carry anything beyond the latest movies on a shelf at most and a Tesco with a single aisle dedicated to movies and TV series, none of which are Anime. The HMV here shut a couple of years ago and became a 99p shop, but they were bought out by Poundland which means there are now 2 Poundland's on the high street 10 seconds away from each other lol. Unsurprisingly I buy everything online.
 
Blaize said:
Here on the Isle of Wight there is no place to buy Anime. We have two tiny WH.Smiths that don't carry anything beyond the latest movies on a shelf at most and a Tesco with a single aisle dedicated to movies and TV series, none of which are Anime. The HMV here shut a couple of years ago and became a 99p shop, but they were bought out by Poundland which means there are now 2 Poundland's on the high street 10 seconds away from each other lol. Unsurprisingly I buy everything online.
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That's grim, do you have a CEX in the Isle of Wight?
 
crashmatt said:
That's grim, do you have a CEX in the Isle of Wight?
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We do now but only just recently. It's basically the size of a corner shop. It only really stocks games and hardware like phones etc. It does have DVDs but again only a few shelves and it's mainly just movies and TV box sets. Might be the odd anime crammed in there I guess but I haven't really looked.

It's pretty crazy since HMV shut, down here if you want to buy any new physical media your only choice is to go around the supermarkets. So anything even slightly obscure is out of reach. It's a real shame as browsing in HMV was always alot of fun. The main High Street here is so depressing these days, I only go to it once or twice a year now.
 
Blaize said:
We do now but only just recently. It's basically the size of a corner shop. It only really stocks games and hardware like phones etc. It does have DVDs but again only a few shelves and it's mainly just movies and TV box sets. Might be the odd anime crammed in there I guess but I haven't really looked.
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yeah some CEX's are not that great I remember one I went into in Exeter was large but only sold games for some reason.
 
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