BRITISH MUSIC RETAILER HMV is set to open its first store in Ireland since it closed its’ doors almost seven years ago.
His Master’s Voice (HMV), which is known worldwide for its iconic logo showing a dog listening to a record player, closed its five remaining stores in the Republic of Ireland in 2016 after it entered administration.
The company’s return to Ireland represents the latest sign of a turnaround of the HMV business under Canadian owner Doug Putman, who took over the company in 2019.
The new store will take up the 18 Henry Street address and mark the opening of its first flagship outside the UK, where it has 120 stores.
The 6,000 square foot space will have three floors and offer over 15,000 different products, including over 5,000 different vinyl albums and 5,500 different CDs. The shop will also stock over 3,000 pop culture products and 1,000 different t-shirt designs.
It will also offer performance spaces to host shows and signings from artists.
It is planned that the store will be open by mid-July of this year.
“Our return to Ireland marks the culmination of the team’s hard work having established a new hmv shopping experience across the UK. We are now in a position to expand that concept into Europe,” Doug Putman said.
“While fans will be able to get their hands on the latest and limited release vinyl and the hottest audio technology, truly indulging their love of music, they will also be able to express their passion for pop culture with ranges that can’t be found anywhere else in Dublin under one roof.”
He added that the company want Henry Street to become a home “for a new community of fans to come together”.
“What’s more, we hope that once we’ve got our feet back under the table in Ireland, further hmv shop openings will follow.”
Launched by English composer Edward Elgar in 1921, the first HMV store opened on Oxford Street in London.
The site is steeped in musical history and helped to propel The Beatles to fame, with the band signed by EMI, the record label that owned HMV until 1996.
The company went into receivership at the beginning of 2013, and was acquired in April of that year by Hilco UK. The move was thought to be worth €58.9 million.
It went into receivership for a second time in 2018 and closed its flagship Oxford Street store in 2019 before being rescued by Putman’s Sunrise Records.
Last month it was announced that HMV would reopen its Oxford Street store this year.
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