Kelvin Wu defends HMV's position in Hong Kong amid continued challenge from iTunes, Spotify

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Kelvin Wu speaks during an executive interview at the second SCMP Game Changers event in Hong Kong. Photo: Wallace Chan

Published: 12:15pm, 26 Jun 2015Updated: 1:56pm, 26 Jun 2015

While many may see music and video stores as a dying business, AID Partners' Kelvin Wu thinks different. The owner of the Hong Kong and Singapore outlets of the iconic British retail chain HMV argued this week that there is still room for an in-store customer experience.

Speaking at the second South China Morning Post Game Changers forum on Thursday, Wu was bullish about the chain's new online-to-offline (O2O) strategy, which he said would help bring customers back to HMV's brick-and-mortar outlets and away from digital only e-commerce solutions such as iTunes or Spotify.

Moving into O2O "is going to be a very cool thing for HMV," Wu said.

Founded in London in 1921 as a shop selling gramaphones, HMV became a leading music and video retailer but suffered greatly in the last decade as digital media replaced CDs and DVDs for most customers. The firm entered administration in January 2013, and AID Partners bought its Hong Kong and Singapore business a month later.

Speaking at the time of the purchase, Wu said that he envisioned HMV becoming more than just a music store by expanding into lifestyle products that can appeal to the younger generation.

"We want to do something more innovative. Otherwise, everybody knows the music retail business alone is tough. It's even tougher than making movies these days," he told the Post.