Those with a better retail knowledge please feel free to explain the rationale behind the following. I dropped in to the Wolverhampton HMV this week to find that next door (yes next door) was a new shop called Cherry Bombs selling t-shirts, mugs, water bottles, books etc – exactly the same branded tat filling the non-music shelves of HMV. Not only that but the tat was EXACTLY THE SAME. Not only that but the shop fittings were EXACTLY THE SAME. I know Boots set up next to independent chemists back in the day but this seems bizzarre. Its way wierder than that. Cherry Bombs (stapline: No Music, Just Merch) is a HMV initiative. What da hell? As my offspring would say. 1. Do they think that the very presence of music itself puts people off going in and their focus groups were full of people saying ‘I’d really like a Kurt Cobain poster/Primal Scream mug/Jean Luc Godard mousemat but I’m worried people will judge me for not actually knowing anything about their music or films’. 2. Are the queues at HMV so long that people are giving up on buying their tat due to the crowds flocking the tills with » Continue Reading.
