HMV Canada to close all of its 102 stores this year as the company goes into receivership

HMV Canada is to close all of its 102 stores over the next few months, as the company goes into receivership after 30 years.

The entertainment retailer was put into receivership by the Ontario Superior Court last Friday (Jan 27), when the majority of its senior staff were laid off as a result. The Financial Post reports that as of December 31 2016, the company owes suppliers, including record labels and studios, around $56 million.

Shops will continue to trade over the next few weeks in order to liquidate stock. 

"The company and major suppliers were unable to reach an agreement, on mutually acceptable terms to sustain HMV’s operations and support a recovery,” said court documents filed last week.

The court filing also revealed that HMV Canada’s sales dropped to $214.4m in 2015 from $225m the previous year. Those sales are reportedly expected to fall to $190m for 2016.

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HMV's UK stores are not expected to be affected by the Canada closures, having functioned as a separate entity since the company was restructured in 2011, when 60 of its UK shops were closed after reported losses of £36 million. 

Since then, the music retail sector has boomed in the UK, with the number of shops selling music reaching an all-time high in February last year.