Who cares about HMV? Shopping has never been better. – Spectator Blogs

How many people presently lamenting the demise of HMV (at least in its current incarnation) actually spent any money there these past, say, five years? Not too many, I suspect. And for good reason: HMV was not, by its end, very good. If it had been wiser or less complacent, it might have been better placed to survive.

But here’s the thing: HMV was not merely the victim of technological change and new customer preferences it was also the wrong size. Because it had stores in most of Britain’s largest towns and cities and because it had been around for a long time we tend to think of HMV as a large company. But it wasn’t a large company. Like Borders and JJB Sports and all the other chains Shiraz Maher mentions it was just a medium-sized company ill-equipped for today’s tough commercial environment. HMV was too large to thrive and too small to survive.