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Music and Video Club

Music and Video Club (MVC) was a British entertainment retailer, founded in 1989.

At its peak, the company operated 82 stores in the United Kingdom, and also sold products over the internet in its later years. The company closed in January 2006 after entering administration.[1]

History

Music and Video Club (MVC) was founded by former directors of Our Price, another entertainment retailer, who left after it was purchased by WHSmith.

MVC took over two video rental stores called 'Titles' in Hendon and Colchester, with its unique selling strategy being centred around offering discounted prices for members, using a dual pricing system whereby members obtained a membership card for a small fee. However, its strategy of locating off the high street to save rental costs led to reduced footfall and as competitors began to reduce CD, video and multimedia prices, this price advantage was eroded over time. It belatedly attempted to locate newer outlets in prime locations but MVC had missed its opportunity.

It was bought by Kingfisher plc in 1993[2] and was included as part of the spin-off of their merchandising division as the Woolworths Group in 2001.

Sale and Collapse

On 23 March 2005, Woolworths Group announced that they would sell the MVC chain and 67 stores, while closing 14 profit-lossing branches.[3] In June, Music Zone was interested in purchasing MVC,[4] although the deal later fell through. On August 5, MVC was sold for £5.5 million to an investment group led by Argyll Partners.[5][1]

Despite the new ownership, MVC struggled in a saturated market led by supermarkets and rival chains. On 20 December, Argyll Partners agreed to sell a selection of MVC stores to Music Zone for an undisclosed amount.[6] The following day, MVC announced that they had entered administration with Kroll.[7] Kroll completed the Music Zone deal by 4 January 2006.[8][9] The remaining 23 stores would permemently close shortly after. The store's website closed at the beginning of February.[10]

Music Zone would also struggle with the ex-MVC stores under its path, and on 5 January 2007 the chain announced they had also collapsed into administration.[11] 67 of their stores, including some former MVC stores, were purchased by Fopp in February.[12] Fopp, however, also subsequently entered administration in June 2007, with HMV purchasing the brand and a small selection of stores.[13] As of December 2024, Fopp has six stores.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b "Sad note as MVC is called into administration". Bedford Today. 1 January 2006. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  2. ^ "Kingfisher". FPM. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  3. ^ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/woolworths-puts-mvc-on-the-block-1415026/
  4. ^ https://www.theretailbulletin.com/general-merchandise/music-zone-targets-mvc-04-06-2005/
  5. ^ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/uk-retail-chain-mvc-sold-for-ukp-55-million
  6. ^ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/uk-retailer-music-zone-buys-40-mvc-stores-1401686/
  7. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4550496.stm
  8. ^ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/uks-music-zone-buys-mvc-stores-1359677/
  9. ^ "Music Zone buying 41 MVC outlets". BBC News. 4 January 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  10. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20060411023040/http://www.mvc.co.uk/
  11. ^ "Music Zone enters administration". BBC News. 5 January 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  12. ^ "Music Zone sells stores to Fopp". BBC News. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  13. ^ Ernst & Young Press Statement Archived 9 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "Store Directory". Fopp - the best music, films, books + tech at low prices. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  • Official website, previously redirected to HMV site, and then to Amazon UK. Now directed to a Sedo holding page
  • Official website, archived version of website from Feb 06