HMV to close flagship Oxford Street store blaming soaring rent demand

Allow Exco Player contentThis content is provided by Exco Player and may use cookies or similar technologies. Please click 'Allow and Continue' below to load the content.

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

HMV has announced plans to close its flagship Oxford Street store just three years after reopening the site.

The entertainment chain says it will leave the shop in March next year.

HMV said it is hunting for a site in London’s West End district for its new flagship shop as it vowed to keep a “significant presence” in the capital.

The group said landlords have proposed doubling the rent on the site at 363 Oxford Street, although it said it was also facing a bill for “substantial” renovation works at the store, which together would make the shop “commercially unsustainable”.

HMV said it would look to transfer affected workers to its two other London stores and head office while it looks for a new site.

Members of the public queue up outside the new HMV store on Oxford Street PA ArchiveHMV made a grand reopening of its historic Oxford Street store in November 2023 after a four-year absence following a deal secured with landlords.

HMV shut the store in 2019 after the retail chain tumbled into administration and was forced to axe shops and jobs.

The retailer – which first opened the Oxford Street site in 1921 – was rescued from insolvency by Canadian Doug Putman’s Sunrise Records business.

Phil Halliday, managing director of HMV, said: “This is a special store, it’s where we began 100 years ago and bringing it back to life in 2023 was a big moment in our recent history.

“It’s frustrating that it has been made commercially unviable.

Jools Holland (left) and Rod Stewart during a signing session for their collaborative studio album Swing Fever at HMV Oxford Street on February 23, 2024Yui Mok/PA Wire“However, we are looking ahead, and our focus is now on what we do to make exciting steps for HMV in 2027.”

It said the Oxford Street closure plans come despite robust trading, with like-for-like sales up 15% across the group in the first nine months of 2026 and revenues for both shops and online trading set to reach over £240 million this year, up from £212 million in 2025.

The group said it remained committed to high street stores.

Mr Halliday added: “We hope to redeploy affected team members through other London stores and head office roles and are exploring ways to minimise the impact on jobs while we seek a new flagship site.”

HMV to close Oxford Street store three years after reopening historic site

Oxford Street pedestrianisation: Launch date, detailed map and traffic changes

Culinary wasteland? Hardly — the 1990s started a revolution

Winter escapes and activities to end the year in style

“We’re actively looking for a new location in the West End and are determined to give London a store that music fans can be proud of,” he added.

New images have revealed detailed plans for the Oxford Street pedestrianisationEast ArchitectureThe announcement comes two weeks before the first phase of Oxford Street’s pedestrianisation gets under way.

From Monday, October 26, almost a kilometre of Oxford Street between Orchard Street, near Selfridges, and Great Portland Street, just east of Oxford Circus, will be closed to general traffic.

Buses, taxis, private hire vehicles, bicycles, scooters and pedicabs will all be diverted away from the stretch as the first phase of the long-awaited transformation gets under way.