FOPP news

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

http://www.retail-week.com/nav?page=retailweek.news.detail&resource=6897573

Music retailer Fopp has stopped taking orders online and is only accepting cash payments at its stores.

Fopp posted on its web site: “Due to circumstances beyond our control we cannot currently take orders online. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.” A notice on the tills said it was having problems with “authorisation systems”.

This follows an announcement on Friday that it had closed 50 stores for an extraordinary stock-take, a week after it told publishers to stop supplying new books and replenishments.

looking bad, as far as i can tell. administration at worst, THE MOST AMAZING CLOSING DOWN SALE EVER at best (apologies to those who work/know others who work there...)

Comments

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

Extensive discussion on ILM. The alleged story told there is that Fopp bought 60+ stores worth of another chain which had gone bust but that chain's creditors have now piled on Fopp. Hence taking cash only, i.e. trying to liquidise only asset i.e. stock.

Seems a bit odd to me to have tried to expand so dramatically in a declining market.

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

I think they bought a lot of stores from Music Zone...who went bust after over-expanding and buying a load of failing stores from MVC when they went pop! So probably the same ones.

It's a bit of a mess really as Fopp seemed to be doing well up until that point.