Fopp Closing

[lepeep]

They may very well have been stocktaking, in order to get an accurate count before the end.

"When I worked in a shop, I loved stocktakes, I used to take a helluva lot of stock"

Rodney Rude.

[Andy Mulhern]

sad news, bad news

(but mildly amusing that there is a "Vacancy" ad in the window of Fopp just now. )

also this announced today

Music industry attacks Sunday newspaper's free Prince CD | | Guardian Unlimited Business

imminent edition ?(?(?(

[Cloud]

if the stories are true, its a fucking disgrace that staff have been treated this way. where are the unions? How was it allowed to get to this stage?

From my perspective, looks like they've got the staff to work this month in order to see if the business could be saved. Sure, they could've told people that they were free to walk - but that would've been a guaranteed death for the business. It probably was the right thing to do to keep on trading in the meantime - maybe because the money might have been found to keep going and pay wages.

I wouldn't be surprised if the unions had little to no grip over Fopp - with them being privately owned and thinking about the average person that worked in Fopp, it wouldn't be terribly surprising if they had on average about one member of a union per shop.

USDAW (or whatever they're called these days) are usually nowhere to be seen when chains go bust anyway.

Any word of potential takeovers for the chain?

[Nev]

This news has been coming for a while, but I'm gutted at losing Fopp. Admittedly it sold it's soul the moment they decided to battle with the big boys (God I miss Carnegie's Brae!), but at least it wasn't Virgin or HMV.

RIP Fopp.

[Bryan]

Well, pissed off,

Got Fopp vouchers for my birthday last month which I haven't spent yet

[Frosty Jack]

From Popbitch -

"when Music Zone went under, Fopp got all their remining stock cheap. Music Zone were heavily in debt. Fopp set up a company called 'MZ2007' to deal with this and compartmentalise it away from the main Fopp company. the distributors weren't having this - and stated that Fopp, not the new company were responsible for the MZ debt. Fopp refused to pay. All the distros simply cut Fopp out of everything until they were paid for the Music Zone debt. hence no stock, and now no stores."

[stuartmaxwell]

From my perspective, looks like they've got the staff to work this month in order to see if the business could be saved. Sure, they could've told people that they were free to walk - but that would've been a guaranteed death for the business.

does that make it ok? does it fuck. you are a moron

[Guest DustyDeviada]

also this announced today

Music industry attacks Sunday newspaper's free Prince CD | | Guardian Unlimited Business

imminent edition ?(?(?(

Surely it doesn't matter now that nobody buys Prince albums.

But the Mail on Sunday? What the fuck was he thinking?

[Frosty Jack]

Surely it doesn't matter now that nobody buys Prince albums.

But the Mail on Sunday? What the fuck was he thinking?

Don't listen to it on stereo headphones, it'll only play on the right...

[framheim]

From my perspective, looks like they've got the staff to work this month in order to see if the business could be saved. Sure, they could've told people that they were free to walk - but that would've been a guaranteed death for the business. It probably was the right thing to do to keep on trading in the meantime - maybe because the money might have been found to keep going and pay wages.

I wouldn't be surprised if the unions had little to no grip over Fopp - with them being privately owned and thinking about the average person that worked in Fopp, it wouldn't be terribly surprising if they had on average about one member of a union per shop.

USDAW (or whatever they're called these days) are usually nowhere to be seen when chains go bust anyway.

"

Any word of potential takeovers for the chain?

the retail industry could well be the most ununionised industry in the uk. very few retail chains even recognise unions. it's fucking horrible. fopp had a great reputation in terms with dealing with their staff, they've fucked that up something rotten now(not that it matters now i guess).

i would actually be surprised if there was any union members in the aberdeen branch let alone across the country. i've never met a union member in ten years of working in retail.

incidentally apparently the fopp staff are on "paid leave" which is fucking laughable just now. except that none of them are fucking laughing.

just goes to show, don't trust the chains, support one up. it might not be the best there is but it's the best we've got and this cities music scene would be lost without it.

also i loved this paragraph from the prince article:

"The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores. And I say that to all the other artists who may be tempted to dally with the Mail on Sunday."

[Moshulu Rob]

"The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores. And I say that to all the other artists who may be tempted to dally with the Mail on Sunday."

Hang on, isn't it his fucking music to do whatever he wants with? And I'm pretty certain the stores have done quite nicely out of prince selling albums over the years

[Guest Steven Dedalus]

Hang on, isn't it his fucking music to do whatever he wants with? And I'm pretty certain the stores have done quite nicely out of prince selling albums over the years

Well, ho hum, surely whoever wrote that article in the first place dopsen't seem to realise that the whole reason his new album will be free with a paper is cos it means that thousands more people will hear his music than did previously. And then, by the law of averages, a large portion of those people will then go out and buy a Prince album, cos they liked what they heard, or cos they didn't like what they heard, and it reminded them of how good he used to be. Record shops have done well out of Prince, and a move like this is meant to keep that happening.

And for anyone who does decide to do this, I reccomend: Sign O' The Times, Parade, Around the World in a Day, and Controversy (even though it isn't great...)

[Chris]

Ah well the staff are officially out of a job:

BBC NEWS | Business | Music chain Fopp sheds 700 jobs

[stuartmaxwell]

but that means they actually get paid though?

[Guest DustyDeviada]

There was a funny article in the Sunday Times this weekend about music retail which held Fopp up as a major success story.

I know the magazines are printed in advance, but the writing had been on the wall all week, surely somebody could have spotted it.

[Guest Steven Dedalus]

"It said that store managers were being kept on while the prospect for re-opening was assessed."

Surely that's a bit of wishful thinking? I would love to be proved wrong, but only a madman would invest in music retail after this (and the general downward slump in the whole inudstry).

It's crazy, but I really hope the peeps get paid.

[RF Scott]

"It said that store managers were being kept on while the prospect for re-opening was assessed."

Surely that's a bit of wishful thinking? I would love to be proved wrong, but only a madman would invest in music retail after this (and the general downward slump in the whole inudstry).

It's crazy, but I really hope the peeps get paid.

That's not a crazy thing to say, I hope they get paid too.

I also hope that there's some sort of mega sale so I can pick up that overpriced Double Leopards CD I'd been hankering after.

[RF Scott]

From my perspective, looks like they've got the staff to work this month in order to see if the business could be saved. Sure, they could've told people that they were free to walk - but that would've been a guaranteed death for the business. It probably was the right thing to do to keep on trading in the meantime - maybe because the money might have been found to keep going and pay wages.

I wouldn't be surprised if the unions had little to no grip over Fopp - with them being privately owned and thinking about the average person that worked in Fopp, it wouldn't be terribly surprising if they had on average about one member of a union per shop.

USDAW (or whatever they're called these days) are usually nowhere to be seen when chains go bust anyway.

Any word of potential takeovers for the chain?

Yes, using what is essentially slave labour in order to save a dying business is a good idea.

Didn't Hitler do a similar thing with forcing people to work and not paying them? Also, pretending he wasn't going to kill them, when he actually was? After they'd worked, that is.

[Neil]

Yes, using what is essentially slave labour in order to save a dying business is a good idea.

Didn't Hitler do a similar thing with forcing people to work and not paying them? Also, pretending he wasn't going to kill them, when he actually was? After they'd worked, that is.

Ah, back to using lame 'guilty by association' arguments.

I don't recall Hitler running a music retail business I have to say.

Businesses go bust, people don’t get paid, people get made redundant and life goes on. I've heard of bigger injustices in the world.

[TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH]

I don't recall Hitler running a music retail business I have to say.

I'm sure a kerazzy sitcom could be thought up with that synopsis. The zany antics and hijinks just don't even bear thinking about...

[RF Scott]

Ah, back to using lame 'guilty by association' arguments.

I don't recall Hitler running a music retail business I have to say.

Businesses go bust, people don’t get paid, people get made redundant and life goes on. I've heard of bigger injustices in the world.

Surely by saying "I've heard of bigger injustices in the world," you are using the same form of argument? That is, saying it's small fry in comparison to other things. If anything it's a lot more flippant than my post, at least it was an extremely exaggerated comparison, whereas your take on things seems to say as much as "pfft," which is perhaps slightly insensitive, considering that some users of this website are directly affected by this.

I'm using the Wagner association to justify my flippant statement.

[Guest Steven Dedalus]

Ah, back to using lame 'guilty by association' arguments.

I don't recall Hitler running a music retail business I have to say.

Businesses go bust, people dont get paid, people get made redundant and life goes on. I've heard of bigger injustices in the world.

Yes, there have been bigger injustices in the world, but to be fair, this is something that concerns a lot of people we all know, it affects the way we approach getting music (for better or for worse), and as a music based discussion board, I think it's pretty important.

Hitler's shop was called 3rd Reich and Roll Records, if I remember correctly.

[SteveCrisis]

Hitler's shop was called 3rd Reich and Roll Records, if I remember correctly.

And there were some rarities to be found in his Bargain Bunker

[Alkaline]

Hitler's shop was called 3rd Reich and Roll Records, if I remember correctly.

Damn you!!! I was going to use that one

Alas, great minds think alike etc

[Alan Cynic]

There was a thread not long ago with Nazi-themed song titles.

But don't get us started on that road again (although I'd nominate a song by the GasChambers Brothers, if I was a sick-minded individual like Dusty Deviada )