Fopp is no more

[buntyman]

Rather surprising news that all the Fopps are closing down. Granted they went downhill a lot since i was at uni but they still had a better range than most of my other local record shops and were usually reliable for the odd classic 5 pounder. Oh well, internet shopping all the way now.

[Famous Mortimer]

Maybe they made a bad decision buying up that other low-budget chain a while back. I'd have thought their business model would have stood up to the net, but it looks like not.

[Neville Chamberlain]

Bah! I only discovered Fopp a couple of years ago when I stumbled on one in London and came out with a bagful of bargain-priced classics. Oh well, bugger.

[Marvin]

In recent years Fopp have been responsible for running great independent record shops into the ground and behaving in some pretty underhand ways (as far as stealing stock orders from other shops) so with the exception of the odd decent £5 cd (although that was entirely pot luck as to what the suppliers were trying to get rid off by practically giving away for free that month) I won't miss them.

They also were ridiculously bad at stocking any new non-mainstream music, possibly the most ridiculous example of this being when Misty's Big Adventure played an instore gig at their flagship London store and they did not stock a single MBA CD except for the vinyl single which the band had to sell themselves, my friends had to walk down to HMV down the road where they picked up both albums no problem.

In fact their stock was more mainstream than even fucking Virgin Megastores, which is a depressing state of affairs for 'the leading independent chain'. Let's hope them fucking off paves the way for some decent independent stores to get some much deserved profile again.

[Murdo]

Someone who works worked for them posted a thread about it on Drowned in Sound. Looks like they severely fucked up when they bought Music Zone over.

http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/2141079

It used to be a great place to get vinyl with staff that genuinely knew what they were talking about (and were also friendly) back in the day when it was just the one shop on Byres Rd in Glasgow but it's been shit since it expanded.

[Marvin]

Similar comment elsewhere from I Love Music:

"It seems that Fopp wanted to buy Music Zone for a while knowing that they were in trouble. They waited until Music Zone went bust so that they would get all the stock cheap - the bust "Music Zone" being the debtor rather than the newly formed "MZ 2007" set up by Fopp. The distributors disagreed and billed Fopp for stock not yet paid up by Music Zone, claiming that Fopp were now responsible for all debts. Fopp refused to pay. The distributors cut Fopp off, refusing them restocks and new releases."

[sparklewhore]

Mixed feelings about this.  They were always a great place to shop for presents with a reasonable choice of popular books and music, and a chance of a real bargain at times - I got a couple of 9cd Trojan comps a few weeks ago for £6 each.  And a couple of my friends also work in the one here in Nottingham.  But the point made about their effect on indie record shops is a valid one  and I've seen our local one, Selectadisc, go downhill since FOPPs opening a few years ago, through trying to match them regarding what they stocked, so i'm hoping that they will now improve again by reverting to what they did before.

[chand]

They were very similar to the mostly shit Music Zone round here; pitched midway between independent and the big chains but with a bafflingly mainstream stock for the most part. They were slightly cheaper than HMV for some things but they seemed focused on selling reams of old CDs for a fiver. Good if you're after stocking up on old Public Enemy albums or something, but the amount of times I went in there expecting to find something semi-obscure and coming away disappointed was far too frequent. Their DVD section in Manchester was big but not as big as HMVs; consequently HMV was more likely to carry reasonably obscure DVDs than Fopp, and Fopp often didn't have a price edge on them. My girlfriend liked Fopp though cos it had a cafe she could sit down in while I shopped.

But yeah, it seems the Music Zone purchase did for it, that's a massive fuck-up.

[buntyman]

just the one shop on Byres Rd in Glasgow but it's been shit since it expanded.

Seeing that shop while on a university open day was a large factor in me deciding to go to Glasgow uni. In hindsight, this sort of shaky decision making was quite prevalent throughout my degree and my final certificate reflected that.
I don't really know anything about business but I was rather hoping for a massive 'everything must go' cash only sale but it seems they're just boarding up immediately. Where does all the stock go? Surely they have a load of surplus unboxed stuff that they could have flogged to help pay some staff wages?

[Pseudopath]

Love the message on their website:

Due to circumstances beyond our control we cannot currently take orders online. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. -Fopp Webteam

That's one way of putting it.

[Marvin]

Seeing that shop while on a university open day was a large factor in me deciding to go to Glasgow uni. In hindsight, this sort of shaky decision making was quite prevalent throughout my degree and my final certificate reflected that.
I don't really know anything about business but I was rather hoping for a massive 'everything must go' cash only sale but it seems they're just boarding up immediately. Where does all the stock go? Surely they have a load of surplus unboxed stuff that they could have flogged to help pay some staff wages?

They owe money to all their suppliers so they'll probably have to return all their stock.

[Catalogue Trousers]

It is a bit of a pity that they've gone: I can only echo the words of others about their being good places to pick up worthwhile CDs, books, and DVDs relatively dirt-cheap.

However, the feeling that they'd begun spreading themselves way too thinly came over strongly when they recently expanded from one, to two, to three shops, all in close proximity to central Bristol, far too quickly for common sense or no trouble to result. On a local scale, it was pretty clear that they were taking some pretty foolish risks.

But they will be missed.

Edited to add:

Although, having read the thread that Murdo linked to above, FOPP's management do sound a right bunch of contemptible bastards.

[aaaaaaaaaargh!]

Fucking hell that's rubbish, really rubbish.  The Guildford one's been open for about 5 seconds it seems.  The only other place in town where there's any sort of choice is HMV, which isn't really saying much.

edit - Fopp management seem to have made a schoolboy error taking over music zone.  Should've got Ken Bates involved, he knows how to fuck his creditors.

[glitch]

Damnit. Now where will I find various electronica, dance and hip-hop CDs on the cheap.

What's weird is I remember when Fopp was considered an indie shop - there were 3 shopes and one was in Leamington Spa, where I grew up. I saw it grow and move from site to site, eventually hitting the high street and then the main shopping centre. I always thought of it as the underdog compared to Virgin et al. and would prefer shopping there to any other chain store.

Hell, as recent as 2 weeks ago I was in the Tottenham Court Road store making mental notes of what to spend this month's payslip on.

[Marvin]

Damnit. Now where will I find various electronica, dance and hip-hop CDs on the cheap.

What's weird is I remember when Fopp was considered an indie shop - there were 3 shopes and one was in Leamington Spa, where I grew up. I saw it grow and move from site to site, eventually hitting the high street and then the main shopping centre. I always thought of it as the underdog compared to Virgin et al. and would prefer shopping there to any other chain store.

Hell, as recent as 2 weeks ago I was in the Tottenham Court Road store making mental notes of what to spend this month's payslip on.

I know someone who ran a record shop (and no I won't mention names because they probably wouldn't like that) that was literally and deliberately run out of business by Fopp through lots of underhand methods including actually stealing stock orders and this was not unusual practice in recent years.

Add this to the fact that their stocklist was actually narrower than HMV or Virgin and often bizarrely priced (yeah you have the few £5 CDs they need rid of but often other stock would be £4 or £5 more expensive than elsewhere) and to be honest they became pretty much the worst of the chains, which is sad as they were once a genuinely good independent record store, but I know that most people who have anything to do with an independent record shop thesedays will be pretty gleeful at this news.

[CaledonianGonzo]

While I knew nothing about their current questionable business practices, part of my heart will always belong to the original one on Byres Road in Glasgow's West End, so I'll add my voice to those who knew it well.

Every music lover has their favourite record shop, and that was mine (better by far than the Stephen Pastel-run one upstairs in John Smith & Sons (and I even had a staff discount in there)).  I must have been in there 4 or 5 days a week, from new-relase Monday to a few last-minute purchases on a Friday night when a few fusiliers in Jinty McGinty's had convinced me that buying one more album wouldn't hurt my budget too much.  I can probably also attribute my less-than-stellar degree to too many hours frittered away browsing its well-stocked racks.

Even now, I still use the one on Rose Street in Edinburgh.  In fact, I was in there just a few days ago, seeing what 6-months old new release was in the £3 bargain rack.

RIP, FOPP, home of the impulse buy.  I have paid £5 a time for most of my CD collection, and it was all thanks to you...

[SOTS]

Will they not even have a closing down sale? I want a closing down sale!

[Jemble Fred]

I must admit that I was slightly miffed when they opened a venue here in Bath, sent out a message asking for local acts saying they were going to support comedy round here etc, but then ignored all emails and went ahead with a centrally-booked comedy agency, not a real local act in sight. It was *quite* a good venue, having compered a show there back in the spring, so perhaps someone a teensy bit more friendly may take it over...

As for the shop, I stopped buying CDs, DVDs, books etc back in September, so perhaps I just don't feel the pinch as much.

[klaatu!]

I know someone who ran a record shop (and no I won't mention names because they probably wouldn't like that) that was literally and deliberately run out of business by Fopp through lots of underhand methods including actually stealing stock orders and this was not unusual practice in recent years.

Yes, I've heard about Fopp's dirty tactics. They opened a store in Southampton about two years ago and started doing good business, so they decided to open another store at the other end of town. Conveniently, they located this store a few doors down from Essential Music, the only remaining independent record shop in the city. Essential closed four months later.

[Paranormalhandy]

Anyway know how long Fopp was going in Aberdeen?  I remember being in their shop on McCrombie's Lane as early as late 1993, I think.  (Or maybe it was a previous record store on the same premises?)  Anyway, I remember when Fopp used to be part of my independent record shop "tours" whenever I hit the big city (along with Avalance's three stores in Edinburgh, Missing and Stephen Pastel's bookshop store in Glasgow, and One Up and Bruce Miller's in Aberdeen).

Then in 1998, they suddenly changed to being a remaindered £5-a-Nice-Price CD hawker.  Took me a while to adjust, but like everyone else I fell in love with the quirkiness of finding the most odd things for the most cheap price (DVDs, books and CDs).

One thing no one seems to have mentioned is Fopp's occasional quite staggering "lost in an attic" finds that would be thrown out for £3-5.

The Orb's first CD single suddenly appeared, about 30 copies all mint condition, for £1 each in 2000 in Aberdeen.  And I still remember the Timelords "Doctorin' the Tardis" Video CD (usual price around £40) suddenly appearing - again about 30 copies - in a shoebox for £3 a punt in 1998.  I'm sure there's other things, but I can't remember 100%.

As an aside, I went to HMV and Virgin stores for the first time in ages yesterday.  Both medium sized shops in Dundee (neither of which I've been in for about 7 years).  Both now seem to sell about 85% DVDs, with the CDs hidden at the back of the shop (or in HMV's case, along the back wall).  Record shops really do seem to be dying.  (Apart from second hand ones - I got the Boo Radleys' "Everything's Alright Forever" and the Stairs "Mexican R&B" CDs for £3.99 each in Grouchos yesterday).

[The Region Legion]

First Reckless Records and now this - all my favourite stores closing down. :(

[Paranormalhandy]

The saddest shop (or rather premises) I know is the old Tower Records on Argyle Street in Glasgow.  In its hey-day, five storeys.  Then it shut down in 2000, and lay empty for nearly six years.  Opened again as Music Zone last Christmas and seemed to last about two weeks.  Can't imagine who would want it now.  Primark?

[klaatu!]

First Reckless Records and now this - all my favourite stores closing down. :(

During one of my recent trips to Our Nation's Capital, I had a walk down Berwick Street and noticed that Reckless seem to have re-branded as something else. They've still got some excellent stock in there, a lot of it for half price too.

Although, several record shops in/around Soho have closed in the past year. Steve's Sounds (?) near Leicester Square seems to have shut down, which is a shame as they did new releases for £8 each. Maybe they were a bit dodgy.

If any of the Music and Video Exchanges close I'll be very upset.

[CaledonianGonzo]

The saddest shop (or rather premises) I know is the old Tower Records on Argyle Street in Glasgow.  In its hey-day, five storeys.  Then it shut down in 2000, and lay empty for nearly six years.  Opened again as Music Zone last Christmas and seemed to last about two weeks.  Can't imagine who would want it now.  Primark?

Another place I only ever ended up in when I was pissed and waiting for a bus home.  Good for imports, fanzines and other ephemera - but man it was expensive.

Has it really been closed 7 years?  Tempus fugit.  Missing must have disappeared round about the same time, another 'chain' with big ideas that folded shortly after expanding.  Glasgow won't have many record shops left at this rate - the Buchanan St. Virgin and places like Monorail notwithstanding.

Store closures are nothing new, though, I suppose.  As a kid, the old Virgin Megastore on Union St. was about the most exciting place on earth.  I got a job there when I was in my late teens and they announced they were closing it about a month later.

[23 Daves]

I used to spend a small fortune on the Fopp on Camden High Street, but in the last four or five months it went really crud - unvaried stock, deals that really weren't that spectacular (unless you wanted one of Bob Dylan's crap covers albums for a fiver) and I actually found myself walking out of there without buying anything for the first time in years.  Good for my bank balance, maybe, since I used to have Fopp spending sprees, but a poor reflection on the store itself.

It's a sorry sight now - there are no boards up, but it's surrounded by Camden drug dealers who must think they can siphon off some of the spending money of the disappointed customers or something. "You might not be able to buy a Leonard Cohen album for four pounds, but I'm sure we can come to a reasonable dope deal on dope for you".

People are missing a trick, though - there's a bloody massive sod-off Record and Tape exchange next door to the one on the High Street, and I went in there today and it would be even better than Fopp used to be if somebody there could just be bothered to alphabeticise the stock.  I picked up Bis' "Social Dancing" for a quid, and a KLF CD import (or what would have been an import) for a fiver.  So there's my hint to anyone who wants all the joy of Fopp with none of the corporate guilt - head on down there.  And maybe get a work experience role there tidying up as well, it would make life easier for me.

[buntyman]

Imagine if you just got a large wad of Fopp vouchers for your birthday. You'd have to post your dismay in both this thread and the worst birthdays ever thread. What a chore that would be.

[Murdo]

Every music lover has their favourite record shop, and that was mine (better by far than the Stephen Pastel-run one upstairs in John Smith & Sons (and I even had a staff discount in there))

I never had a fave store in the West End. Fopp, Echo and John Smith's could just about cover my insatiable need for indie/punk/electronic vinyl. My heart will always be with the original Missing *sigh* [/glagowcentric]

[chand]

Every music lover has their favourite record shop, and that was mine

I'm lucky in that in Manchester there are a bunch of good indie record stores which made Fopp fairly unnecessary for me, and there have been enough that despite in the last five years everything from tiny places like Polar Bear, through mid-sized chains like Music Zone and MVC right up to the massive Virgin and the old Our Price closing, there have still been plenty of places to get music from, and long may that continue.

I was genuinely gutted though a couple of months back when the excellent Pelicanneck closed down. They're thankfully still running the boomkat website which has long since been the most profitable means of business, but it had a really unique charm. I actually found out about it from someone on maybe two or three years ago; it was half-hidden in the back of a building and you had to walk through some kind of little studenty cafe/juice bar to get in there. One of the main things that was great about it though was that they put out their new releases on the Friday rather than the Monday, so I used to ritualistically head there after work of a Friday evening to stock up on musical delights for the weekend. Like all good indie places there'd usually be something you'd never heard on the stereo which sounded great, and on top of that they'd send a mailout on the Friday (which you could also read on the site), which reviewed all the new releases; not just regurgitating the press releases but actually giving an opinion on the record. Their taste really chimed with mine and I barely ever put a foot wrong going with things they'd recommended me. If I was buying a lot of CDs too the guy there would quite often knock a few quid off as a gesture too. It was basically exactly what I wanted in a music shop; it knew its niche so you didn't have to wade through piles of Kaiser Chiefs albums to get to the groovy stuff.

Fopp inevitably didn't have that same independent store vibe; the one in Manchester was all very neatly and cleanly laid-out but felt a bit soulless, and while the cafe section allowed my girlfriend to sit down while I was digging I can't help feeling they were needlessly wasting floor space with the gimmicky inclusion of a place to sit and drink; Manchester, being a major city, is not exactly short of places to get a coffee from.

[Angst in my Pants]

I miss Andy's Records - being a Welsh country boy I was initially enthralled by the glitz and glamour of HMV and Virgin "Mega" Stores when I moved away, but in my Uni years at Lancaster I found Andy's Records to be a delight; not always the place for a spectacular bargain, but they had great staff who were happy to chat about your music tastes and suggest other "new" bands you might enjoy. 

Maybe now I'm too old and embarrassed to talk to staff at HMV and Virgin, but at the time I felt Andy's was a place to learn about new interests I might not have otherwise found.

I'm a wee bit tipsy, so this may be more off-topic than I'm already concerned about, but having never known a Fopp store I'm sensing they are/were a similar "friendly" sort of record shop - do such places exist these days?

[Starlit]

there's a bloody massive sod-off Record and Tape exchange next door to the one on the High Street, and I went in there today and it would be even better than Fopp used to be if somebody there could just be bothered to alphabeticise the stock.

Apparently the owner doesn't like alphabeticised stock, and has been known to arrive at a shop, take all the dividers out and take them away with him.

sod-off Record and Tape exchange

You're not the first person that I've heard call it that.

I never got the whole Fopp thing. I think I only went in the Charing Cross Road one once, and found it to be quite uninspiring.
Selectadisc in Berwick Street used to do what Fopp were supposedly reknowned for - surprisingly cheap CDs, records and books. I used to shop there quite a lot. Nowadays, unless I happen to be passing a shop, I'll just buy something off eBay or Amazon. Not that I buy much stuff, and certainly not new stuff.
I can remember when I was a teenager, and all I wanted to spend my money on was music. When I didn't have any money I'd just hang around in the local independant shop (still there!) and plan what I wanted to buy.
Nowadays, I have a vast amount more disposable income, and yet I reckon that if I went into any new music shop, I'd struggle to come out with anything that I wanted.
I still listen to the music that I have with more or less the same enthusiasm, but don't feel any need to get more.
Maybe my mum was right, and a person doesn't need more than a certain amount of music.