HMV

I had some time to kill between appointments, and had always enjoyed wandering through HMV before, so I thought I’d do a few rounds. My last visit to this particular location was before the HMV Café & Bar opened up on the 3/​F. It’s nice to see that there are still some places in Hong Kong that you can go to buy music and movies, but you can tell that there is a smaller selection and variety available here when compared to years past. Still, if you’re looking to browse and discover new music, this is a good place to visit. The frequent discounts offered on movies are also a bonus.

What a cool store! I have been walking by this building five days a week hoofing up the hill to Pure Fitness California up the way and I never knew that this store was inside.
What a great hidden gem! (The optimal word being «hidden»…had I not read a Unilocal review regarding the little café located inside HMV, I would not have known this super cool music store was here). I found the building entrance off D’Aguilar, walked up the stairs from the street and hung a right to continue up some more stairs until I saw the escalator that dumped us into HMV.
Music, CD’s, records, books, magazines, kids section, some electronics, office supplies, collectable toys, a little café/​coffee spot… the list could go on… super cool fun stuff! Although I do not buy much music these days, this place is a cool place to simply spend some time and get lost in a bit.

The concept of the entertainment megastore with retailers like HMV, Tower Records and Virgin Megastore leading the way is pretty much a relic in today’s world. Increasingly, entertainment purchases are made online.
Although this type of business is on the decline, I still like visiting these stores when visiting Asia. Specifically for Asian content as it is not as readily available digitally online in the US.
HMV which originated in the UK still has stores in Hong Kong, but it is only a shell of its former self. This location billed as the flagship is in Central on the 3^rd and 4^th floor of the appropriately named Entertainment Building.
I first visited this store 2 years ago and returned again last month. And there has a been a noticeable change in product selection in that time. The store was stylish before (and still is now), but I feel that they have traded some substance to remain viable.
There is now a HMV Kafe on the lower level and oddly a toy selection. The lower level still has a section of their music bestsellers and new releases, but the selection of movies and music has dwindled. I had to go to a backroom on the top level to find their selection of Asian music (Chinese/​Japanese/​Korean) behind the vinyl records area if that is any indication.
I still like HMV. They do offer discounts on movie and music bestsellers and it is still an one-​stop shop for your entertainment needs. It is just the selection is not as good as it once was which pains me.

Nowadays its quite unusual to go to a record shop– with MP3, online downloading and as many apps as you could get your hands on; there seems to be no point in going to the shops in getting a CD. Thinking back though, it was always a nice experience in going to shops and sampling the different CDs, sometimes you didn’t even know who those performers were and you had new found favourites just from parading around the store.
HMV is a bit of an oddity in itself– this shop has nothing to do with the chain that was closed down previously. It just makes you wonder what exactly is it living on to afford the surroundings– the spacious environment and itself being in a prime location in Hong Kong. You just hope that they will continue to operate for as long as they could.
The matter is this: HMV is a nice place to loose yourself during your hectic lunch hour, it is a place where you can really go around and find albums that you used to have or even forgotten that you had. It is also one of the few places in Hong Kong where you can find less local/​popular album labels. This is not only a place for music lovers, but a place where you can find refuge from the rest of Central; especially when the weather is bad/​you are waiting for someone/​your boss is looking for you.