Fopp (retailer)
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry |
Retail Record shop |
| Founded |
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (1981) |
| Headquarters |
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom |
|
Number of locations
|
50 stores (at peak) 8 stores (2014-) |
|
Key people
|
Gordon Montgomery, Founder |
| Products | CDs, vinyl records, DVDs, books, café |
| Owner | Hilco |
| Parent | HMV (2007–present) |
| Website | www |
Fopp is a Scottish chain of retail stores selling music, film, books and other entertainment products in the United Kingdom.
The company began as a one-man stall in Glasgow, Scotland in 1981. The name "Fopp" comes from the title of a song by the Ohio Players on their 1975 album Honey.
By 2007, Fopp had expanded to become a chain of over 100 branches in the UK. With the demise of rival chain Music Zone, Fopp became the third largest specialist music retailer in the UK in terms of store numbers (after HMV and Virgin Megastores).
Having taken over rival chain Music Zone following its fall into administration, Fopp found itself with cash flow problems. The company cancelled book deliveries in June blaming a change in location of warehouse from Bristol to (the old Music Zone warehouse).
On 21 June 2007 the company began accepting only cash transactions, stating card authorisation problems as the cause. On 22 June 2007 the company closed all branches for 'stocktaking' and said it was in talks with its bank. A week later the company announced a temporary closure in all its outlets and its online venture, and staff were informed that they would not be receiving their monthly pay.
On 29 June 2007 Fopp called in receivers after a last-ditch deal that would have allowed Sir Richard Branson a way to devolve himself from the loss making Virgin Megastores without the negative PR of closing down multiple locations, but this deal failed to win support from Virgin's main supplier. The stores were closed, and staff were sent home with their monthly salaries unpaid.
The Fopp website was taken down shortly afterwards and replaced with the following message:
Our store chain is profitable, well regarded and loved by our loyal customers and staff. However we have failed to gain the necessary support from major stakeholders, suppliers and their credit insurers to generate sufficient working capital to run our expanding business.
We would like to thank staff and customers for their support over the past 25 years.
...
Wikipedia