28 MusicWeek 20.04.12 RETAIL
www.musicweek.com
HAROLD MOORES RECORDS
Give us a brief history of the store… Harold Moores Records was started by Harold Moores and his business partner Phillip Thwaites in 1978. Harold sold the business in 2003 and it changed hands again in 2008. It’s currently owned by John Harris. We’re a classical and jazz
store primarily. We stock new CDs and second hand CDs and we have a lot of vinyl in the basement.
How’s business today compared to previous years? We had one of our best ever years last year and we’re maintaining that position this year so, as far as trade is concerned, it’s decent. Record selling has changed a lot over the last 15 years and I know a lot of record shops have closed down. It’s difficult because conditions are challenging for a lot of independent retailers, but
I think it’s like that for everyone.
How have you adapted to the current situation? Like everyone else we have a website and sell things online but the bulk of our business still comes through the shop. We have really good
customers and a lot of regulars who have been shopping with us for years. When we get new business, we’re generally able to turn it into repeat business because we offer a really good team of staff that’s very knowledgeable and very approachable. So, if you don’t know much about classical music or jazz and you want to buy something you heard on the radio, hopefully you will get a really good experience. We’ve created a really nice atmosphere here.
Do you think that the genres you specialise in tend to attract people who are keen to hang on
INTERNET vs HUMAN
2 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7HQ t 0207 437 1576
whmrecords.co.uk
Manager: Hester Rowland
‘There’s still good business to be had in physical product. It would be good if some of the bigger record companies
focused on that a bit more.’ HESTER ROWLAND, HAROLD MOORES
to physical product? Definitely. I don’t think downloads sound as good as a CD, and analogue recordings sound better on analogue playback. I think it’s a generational thing as well. The average age of our customer is well over 35. Generally, record sellers
attract collectors and they are very much into physical products because there’s less satisfaction in having a collection of downloaded music
as opposed to a really nice record with really nice packaging. They’re nice to have around.
Is there anything that the music industry could be doing to further help indie retailers? The major record companies haven’t really supported indie retailers. There’s still good business to be had when it comes to selling physical product and I think it would be good for business generally if some of the bigger record companies focused on that a bit more than they have done.
How confident are you about the future? As far as the short to mid-term future is concerned, I’m not particularly worried. Since the business was bought by Mr.
Harris in 2008 he’s invested a lot of money in us and that shows in improved sales. We’re maintaining a decent position going forward this year.
As long as civilisation doesn’t
collapse around our ears we should be okay. If the Euro melts-down, who knows? I think the only thing we can worry about is making sure we have good stock, decent staff and a good owner who backs us. All of those things make the running of small business like this easier and so I feel confident about the mid-term future. Perhaps, one day, in 20 years
time we’ll all have ports in the back of our necks that will let us access retinal menus to listen to music. That would be weird, but who knows?
This week’s High Street Hero Hester Rowland takes on his digital rivals ...
WE SAID WE LIKED... NOAH STEWART Noah
AMAZON RECOMMENDED... RAMIN Ramin
HESTER RECOMMENDED... SIMONE KERMES Lava
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