bhowells

I would be interested to read forum members views about Zavvi, the firm that took over the Virgin chain.

I am not very impressed with my local one in Cardiff, not a very good choice of CD.s. My main bugbear is the room that houses the spefcialists genres in the Virgin days this used to be Classical and Jazz but the country and folk are crammed in as well. There is no assistant behind the counter anymore and the whole place feels lonely and unloved.

Much more impressed with Cardiffs Hmv store, still a fair selection of cds and dVD on two floors and helpful staff.

Even smaller HVE stores at seasisde towns I vist such as Llandudno and Bournemouth always have something of interest.

I cant see Zavvii surving in the present climate.

MovieLover12

I went in Zavvi in Nottingham and found that they are really expensive. I picked up Shrek 3 Double Disc version and it was priced at £24.99. The single version was £14.99. Days later I brought the single version from Asda in Arnold at £7.

In Zavvi, all I ever brought was Wrong Turn 2, Rush Hour 3, Planet Terror, Romanzo Criminale and Rise of the Footsoldier for £30.

The bulk of my discs at HMV.Com, finding it cheaper and with free postage and package it is the best option for me.

I agree with you bhowells, Zavvi would probably just become an internet company and then fizzle out.

bhowells

Appreciate your comments glad someone else feel the same way.

marker

I went in Zavvi when I went to Brighton the other week and the choice of things I like was poor, and what they did have that interested me was expensive, and could be bought on the net far cheaper, I dont expect I will bother going in one of their shops again.

Cheers Marker

bhowells

I bet their London stores are not worth going to, I stayed in JuryS Hotel near Totenham Court RoADand one of the Zavvi stores is near there, ok when it was still Virgin last year but goodnes knows what it is like now.

I miss Tower and love the original HMV store in Oxford Street.

scholes

From what I've seen Zavvi stores offer little choice especially compared to their biggest high street rival HMV. Most bargains tend to be US releases and even the TV series boxsets are limited.

sippog

Interesting to note that, over the years, the style of the two big London, Oxford Street HMV and Virgin megastores has changed. Originally Virgin was more expensive but had a more eclectic and wider range of stuff - you went there to find something rare and to HMV to look for bargains.

Now it's HMV who have the better range. The one advantage that Virgin had - their computerised system that let you scan and sample CDs - has been cancelled out by their poor selection of stuff. Zavvi are a typical "pile em high" retailer, only interested in stocking middle of the range popular items. A very short sighted approach, in my view, because you can't compete as a high street shop with the supermarkets and on-line stores on price-points. I don't bother going in there any more because it's obvious they're whittling down their stock in the specialist areas that might be of interest.

The Fopp shops are still the best place to look for bargains but they seem to be shrinking in number. A real pity that because you could see their ultra cheap pricing was forcing the big boys to bring their prices down. (Makes you wonder how much price fixing was going on before, doesn't it"?)

MrT

I cannot see Zavvi survivng. In Portsmouth the HMV and Zavvi stores are diagonally opposite to each other within 100 yards - Zavvi is usually totally deserted when HMV is bustling with customers. Given the very limited range of what they offer, I too have stopped going to Zavvi. In the days when it was Virgin, the guy in the (then) video department always had a shelf for new releases - I remember picking up Carlton Cinema's VHS of Cottage to Let and They met in the dark (too eagerly awaited issues) in 1996 on the day of their release (this was of course in the days before the Internet). On display they always seemed to carry at least one copy of just about every new release - another example of how things have been dumbed down. Am I alone in still preferring to buy "over the counter" if that was possible, rather than through the anonymity of the net?

Mike (MrT)

Chevyman

All these retailers struggle with high street rents and square footage problems after the demise of vinyl and then the cassette. Footflow is becoming a problem too; out of town, non-specialist retailers ie supermarkets are grabbing more and more of the market share. Add to that the burgeoning download and internet markets and, in line with bbhowells' take on it, I don't see much of a future for the major high street retailers.

Carrying only a chart range, which is normally discounted, results in reduced margins. Carrying a wide range results in higher stock levels. Both will lead to decreased profit.

Interesting to note how many food retailers are devoting a lot of space to home entertainment software, and also how many are taking prime time TV slots to promote individual albums.

I remember well the first Virgin outlet in Oxford Street.........bean bags on the floor, headphones and bootlegs

"The Times They Are A-changing"

If I wasn't meant to drive that fast, the pedal would stop half way!!

dremble wedge

They went bust a year ago and HMV took over their eight most profitable stores (which remain Fopp branded). Fortunately I've got one near me, but most people don't have

Lord Brett

On a recent visit to London I went into Zavvi's Tottenham Court Road store and went out no poorer and pretty unimpressed. the store is huge, but looks very empty, and everything I looked at seemed expensive.

I really can't see the chain lasting.

ddawson

I don't like my local one - place is a bit uninspiring generally.