Head Entertainment
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment Retail |
| Predecessor | Zavvi |
| Founded | 2 February 2009 |
| Founder | Simon Douglas Les Whitfield |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 5 |
Area served | UK |
Key people | Simon Douglas, Chief Executive Officer Les Whitfield[1] |
| Products | Books Consoles DVDs Games Magazines Music T-Shirts |
Number of employees | 160[2] |
| Parent | Head Entertainment LLP |
Head Entertainment is an entertainment retail chain in the United Kingdom. The company was formed on 18 February 2009 when Simon Douglas, former managing director of Zavvi and business partner Les Whitfield, purchased five stores from Zavvi Entertainment Group which was placed in administration on 24 December 2008.[3][4] Head Entertainment competes with the likes of HMV Group.
History
Virgin Megastores
Richard Branson started his first Virgin store on London's Oxford Street in 1971. In 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. Between the 1980s and 1990s, the chain grew, most notably through its merger with Our Price whilst under the ownership of WH Smith. By the 1990s Virgin Megastores had become an international franchise as part of the Virgin Group. During the early to mid 2000s Virgin Group decided to sell off most of its Virgin Megastores to various companies, including the French stores to the Lagardere Group and the American stores to Related Companies.
Zavvi
In September 2007 it was announced that the UK arm of the Virgin Megastores brand was to break away from the Virgin Group, in a management buy-out offer led by managing director Simon Douglas and finance director Steve Peckham.[5] EUK, of the Woolworths Group, was the main supplier of Zavvi under an exclusive supply deal. As a result of EUK entering into administration, on 24 December the music retailer was also forced into administration as it was unable to source stock on favourable terms direct from suppliers.[6] As a result of its administration Zavvi closed the majority of its 130 stores, and sold some to rival HMV, and a new company Head Entertainment.
Head Entertainment
Head Entertainment was formed on 2 February 2009 by Simon Douglas, former managing director of Zavvi, and his business partner Les Whitfield. Les Whitfield also founded the entertainment retailer Impulse which was sold in July 2007. On 18 February, the day in which the final set of store closures was announced, Zavvi's administrators Ernst & Young sold 14 of the stores to HMV, and 5 stores to Head Entertainment. An additional three stores may be purchased. All of the remaining stock which Zavvi had was also sold to Head Entertainment.
Operations
Head Entertainment currently operates seven stores in the United Kingdom situated in Cardiff, Bristol Broadmead, Bluewater, Dundee, Leeds, Liverpool One and Manchester’s Arndale Centre, all former Zavvi outlets.[3]
Head Entertainment has no relation to Head Records, also an independent entertainment retailer, which opened following the closure of the Fopp store, Leamington Spa in 2007.[7]
Product range
Head Entertainment stores stock a range of products from Audio, Books, CDs, Computer software and hardware, DVDs and Video Games.
See also
References
- ^ "Former Zavvi boss buys eight Zavvi stores". Property Week. 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- ^ "Sale of business brings total zavvi jobs saved to 629". Creditman. 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- ^ a b "End of the road for Zavvi". Manchester Evening News. 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- ^ "Zavvi Ceases Trading But Some Jobs Saved". Sky News. 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- ^ "Branson sells Virgin music stores". BBC News. 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
- ^ "Why did Zavvi go under?". BBC News. 2008-12-24. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
- ^ "The music is back: independent store set to take over from Fopp". Leamington Courier. 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
External links
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