Drogheda-based band Featuring X will be performing live in the HMV/XtraVision store at the Long Walk this Saturday at 3pm.
The all-female quintet will be performing a number of songs on the day and will have their single Wild Love on sale.
Entrance to the live performance is free of charge.
Members of Dundalk School of Music test out the new piano, which was kindly donated by Hilco Capital
Hilco Capital, the company behind HMV and Xtra-vision, have presented a new piano to the Dundalk School of Music.
Commenting on their Facebook page the DSM thanked the group “for their vote of confidence in providing the school with such a tremendous instrument as we continue to strive for excellence in music.”
Hilco’s Paul McGowan resides in Blackrock. The company recently took over the Xtra-vision chain and reopened HMV in the town in a dual HMV and Xtra-vision branch at the Long Walk last Friday.
The new piano is a timely boost ahead of DSM’s fourth anniversary on November 16th. Further details on the school can be found at www.dundalkschoolofmusic.com
Staff at Xtra-vision Dundalk have been preparing for the reopening of HMV in the store in recent weeks
Remember, remember, the first of November. That’s because HMV will be back in Dundalk from tomorrow.
The final nine HMV stores opening up in Xtra-vision outlets nationwide will open for business tomorrow.
That includes the new HMV at Xtra-vision in Dundalk.
The new dual store will be located at the current Xtra-vision at the Long Walk.
The new store opens at 10am tomorrow morning and will remain open until 11pm.
The return of HMV to Dundalk is getting ever nearer it seems.
The town has been without the music, DVD and games retailer since its store in the Marshes closed earlier this year. It was announced recently, however, that HMV would be reopening around the country in Xtra-vision stores, having been taken over by Hilco UK.
A sign has recently gone up advertising HMV’s return to Dundalk at Xtra-vision’s Long Walk store and while no date for the return of HMV has been confirmed, it is understood it will be open by next month.
Eleven HMV outlets in Xtra-vision will reopen this Saturday, including the one in Drogheda.
What the new HMV/Xtra-vision stores will look like
Last month Talk of the Town confirmed that HMV would be reopening in Dundalk as a store-within-a-store at Xtra-vision.
Following the reopening of four HMV stores – three in Dublin and one in Limerick – the company’s owners Hilco have now begun to concentrate of the reopening of the 26 other stores that will be a joint venture with the movie and game rental business.
Today, HMV released teaser shots of what the new stores would look like and confirmed that they were a “work in progress”.
The Dundalk store, when operational, will be located at the existing Xtra-vision outlet at the Long Walk.
It has been officially confirmed that HMV will reopen in Dundalk in the Xtra-vision store at the Long Walk.
Talk of the Town reported last week that owners Hilco were planning to open 26 stores as part of a “shop-in-shop” project within Xtra-vision outlets.
Earlier today Hilco chief executive Paul McGowan, who resides in Blackrock, confirmed via Twitter that the move was going to happen in Dundalk, with HMV reopening in Xtra-vision in the “next few weeks”.
Four HMV stores are set to reopen next month – three in Dublin and one in Limerick – while the shop-in-shop projects at the Xtra-vision outlets are expected to see a further 25 HMV stores open around the country.
HMV has already announced that it will be honouring valid gift vouchers for its stores when it reopens.
HMV is expected to reopen in Dundalk but not in its old location at the Marshes Shopping Centre. Instead it will be a shop within a shop at Xtra-vision
HMV looks set to return to Dundalk – but not to the Marshes Shopping Centre.
Hilco announced yesterday that it plans to reopen four stores in Ireland over the coming weeks. They will be located in Henry Street in Dublin, Dundrum Shopping Centre, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and Limerick’s Crescent Shopping Centre.
However, Hilco are also set to announce the opening of 26 more stores next week, with each of these being “shop-in-shop” projects within Xtra-vision outlets.
While it will be next week before it is officially confirmed, it is expected that the Xtra-vision store at the Long Walk will be one of the 26 locations chosen for the new scaled down HMV.
According to Hilco Capital Ireland chief executive Larry Howard: “The Xtra-vision, HMV and Hilco teams have been at full stretch in recent weeks finalising arrangements and store designs for the new concession arrangements. We look forward to HMV once again becoming the home of entertainment retail in Ireland.”
Hilco chief executive Paul McGowan, who resides in Blackrock, said HMV would be launching its new digital product later in the year, with “more exciting developments” being announced in coming weeks.
When Hilco rescued Xtra-vision in June, Mr McGowan called the name “a very strong brand”, which would be “a good fit alongside HMV”.
The future of Dundalk’s Xtra-vision store at the Long Walk appears to have been secured after the company was sold yesterday to Hilco Capital Ireland for an undisclosed sum.
The movie rental chain went into receivership in late April, blaming the growth in online streaming and piracy for diminished profits, as well as large rent bills.
However, the chain’s business, stock and head office in Tallaght have now been taken over by Hilco, who also recently acquired HMV.
Yesterday, Talk of the Town reported that HMV was not going to be reopening in Dundalk but Hilco CEO Paul McGowan’s assessment yesterday that Xtra-vision was “a good fit alongside HMV” suggests that the company may look to merge the two brands together in certain areas.
Xtra-vision already sells a number of DVDs, boxsets and CDs and will be expected to expand on this now that it has become part of Hilco’s international entertainment retail division.
While a small number of store closures are expected, the future of the Dundalk store would appear to be secure. One of Hilco’s outstanding problems is renegotiating store leases with landlords but that would appear not to be an issue locally with Xtra-vision having recently relocated from the Adelphi to the Long Walk.
Previously: HMV reopening – but not in Dundalk
A number of HMV stores are set to reopen around the country in the next few weeks but Dundalk will not be one of them.
Amongst the stores set to be reopened by recovery specialists Hilco include shops on Dublin’s Henry Street, Limerick’s Crescent Shopping Centre and in Liffey Valley and Dundrum Shopping Centres.
More may open later in the summer, with locations earmarked for Grafton Street as well as Cork and Galway cities.
However, the store which closed at the Marshes Shopping Centre will not be reopening – at least not as a HMV – so any future plans Hilco has for a HMV in the town will mean it will have to be in a different location.
The current HMV premises in Dundalk, which now lies idle, is set to be taken over by DV8 Fashions, which will be opening soon.
UK-based Hilco’s chief executive is Paul McGowan, who resides in Blackrock.
The four stores set to reopen will create 100 jobs and while a long term project main involve a return to Dundalk, it is not thought to be currently in the pipeline.
Previously: DV8 Fashions to open Dundalk store in the Marshes
The future of Dundalk’s last DVD and games rental store could be in doubt after Xtravision was placed into receivership this morning.
The company hires 1,024 people nationwide but has seen profits tumble in recent years by a growing number of people turning to online entertainment services such as Netflix.
Xtravision Dundalk recently relocated from the Adelphi building to a unit at the Exchange Building on the Long Walk.
The local outlet is thought to employ around a dozen staff and is one of the few remaining places in town still selling DVDs and boxsets following the closure of HMV earlier this year.
It is the last remaining rental outlet in Dundalk following the closure of various competitors in recent years, including Cassidy’s Supervision, Planet, Green Video and Chartbusters.
Ernst and Young are expected to be appointed receivers today with the business set to remain operating in the short-term in the hope that a buyer can be found.
Talk of the Town 