It was sad to see the Virgin Megastore in San Francisco close, only because it was a sign that the concept of retail music stores was truly dead.
Like 24-hour photo shops and video rental stores, music retail shops have lost their relevance as the likes of everything from Amazon.com, ITunes, Pandora, last.fm, and even Sirius/XM radio have made retail storefronts obsolete.
But HMV, the british CD and entertainment retailer is not slinking away without a fight.
The HMV Group is set to launch what could be a chain of "arthouse" cinemas that will be located above its stores as part of its efforts to diversify away from its core music and home entertainment offering. The idea behind the movie theatre concept is to drive foot traffic into the shop floor. To encourage this, the theatre will only be accessible through stores during opening hours. There will have a dedicated entrance for the evening.
Its first 200-seat cinema will be in Wimbledon, south London. If all goes well, it will expand the concept.
Sources: The Scotsman, Brand Republic
