Question mark over future of Burnley HMV shop

The Charter Walk Shopping Centre manager said the store had performed quite well despite the HMV Group seeing a wider drop in sales of 10% in the run-up to Christmas compared to last year.

The company announced it is looking to save £10m. over the coming 12 months but refused to confirm whether Burnley was one of the outlets facing the axe.

However, Mr Gribben remained upbeat about the future of HMV in the town and indicated it could escape the chop.

“Overall our figures on footfall and feedback are not as bad as we would have anticipated given the weather.

“HMV reported feedback that trade was OK over Christmas but everyone has taken a hit due to the weather - it has had a big impact on everybody.

“We have heard nothing locally about closure. No news is good news. I would be very surprised if it did because they seemed to have been performing quite well.

While HMV failed to confirm the fate of the Burnley store, a spokesman sounded a positive note, saying: “At the end of the day we are talking about a relatively small number of stores, which in the main are likely to be located in large-city conurbations and trading in close proximity to each other – resulting in a degree of duplication in relation to local demand.”

There’s more on this story in Friday’s Express