Music and DVD retailer HMV Canada is getting a facelift to draw in new business as the company’s British owner thinks of selling off Canadian stores.
The redesigned locations will sell a wider variety of products like more t-shirts, video games and headphones, and will have new fixtures and colour schemes.
The first two remodelled stores will open in the Toronto area around the end of next month.
HMV Canada president Nick Williams said the company will offer more opportunities for customers to try out products before they buy.
“We will start to bring in more interactive guest environments and the (video) game section allows us to do that quite positively,” Williams said, adding that the company will also expand its in-store music listening stations to allow customers to test headphones available for purchase.
“There aren’t many retailers that do that, most of them just sell it off a peg,” he said.
The company is also continuing to expand its non-music related products to generate different sources of income and appeal to a broader group of customers.
HMV Canada is moving forward with the plans despite its British parent pondering the sale of its 125 Canadian stores.
The British parent needs money to pay off more than $200 million in debts as it struggles through increasing competition from digital download websites.
