Final Chapter: HMV v. Me and My Quest for the New BARK CD "Kings and Queens"

The final word on HMV and my complaint that they only stocked ONE SINGLE copy of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings' new CD "Kings and Queens" in their Chinook Centre store in Calgary on the week it was released.

It's interesting that they did come through in the end and did supply me with a copy to buy. HMV Canada, the company, wrote me a long email (previously  posted) which was essentially a Marketing 101 lesson in selling recorded music in 2011.

That was their idea of how to meet my complaint.

It took a young HMV employee to see my tweet and special order me a copy (because it turns out her location had already sold out its pitiful stock of THREE copies). I hope HMV gives @Jolty a raise for going above and beyond the call of duty to give me good service.

I printed HMV's response to my complaint word for word without editing, but I would like to address some of their justification and rationalizations from the avid (and rabid) music customer's point of view.

"I am sorry to hear that you were disappointed with the product mix we are now offering in our stores. HMV has been making changes to our inventory complement over the last few years after considerable market research and direct customer input."

   

I never said I was disappointed in HMV's product mix, if they mean the fact that they also sell video games, t-shirts, books and accessories and stuff along with their movies and music. One would have to be an idiot not to recognized the changes in the entertainment industry. I am disappointed that they haven't quite recognized the shift in the music buying public with more buyers with niche interests still buying CDs and vinyl as opposed to downloading. I remain disappointed that they didn't understand that it was worth stocking at least a handful of this important Canadian recording in all of their stores to meet the real demand.

"Our ‘point-location’ stores such as Robson Street in Vancouver, West Edmonton Mall, Toronto Superstore and Montreal Megastores will generally receive much higher quantity of new releases because their physical space and market demand for the merchandise makes it viable to hold larger inventory levels than most other locations.  I have addressed the matter of the limited stock in the Chinook store for Blackie & the Rodeo Kings with our Purchasing team.  They confirm for me that there is a replenishment order currently on the way...

You want to piss a customer off? Tell them there are lots of copies of the CD he wants for sale in Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton NOT Calgary. The two bigger HMV stores in Calgary are downtown and Chinook. Apparently one of the hottest retail markets in the country doesn't warrant a major HMV store. I find that a little strange. Notice they also said they were going to replenish their stock at Chinook. Gee, one more copy of the CD to replace the one they sold? Lovely.

The sad fact for music junkies like me (and maybe you) is that alternative choices to buy new hard copies of  recorded music are dwindling. Small music stores that were shoved out of business by the likes of Chapters/Indigo, HMV, Best Buy, Future Shop and Borders (in the US) when they brought in huge music selections, are long gone. The niche stores are gone and music selection in all the bigger stores has shrunk. Thank goodness for Amazon and "cdbaby" who sell to the world a couple of copies at a time, for eBay which is a bit of a crap shoot and for the few small local specialty shops that manage to hang on.

Of course the best option is to buy your records at concerts and gigs. You get to see the show and you get the CD directly from the artist and maybe even an autograph if you're interested. 

You can't autograph an MP3 now can you.