{"id":177042,"date":"2025-11-12T18:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T18:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/177042\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T18:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T18:46:10","slug":"hmv-returns-to-cork-with-new-merchants-quay-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/177042\/","title":{"rendered":"HMV returns to Cork with new Merchant&#8217;s Quay store"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>More than a decade after it left the heart of Cork City, His Master\u2019s Voice (HMV) is making a high street comeback, with a new store set to open in Merchants Quay in time for the busy Christmas market.<\/p>\n<p>In a deal brokered by Lia Dennehy and Daire Brennan of Savills, with Daniel Murphy of Bannon representing the tenant, the music and entertainment retailer has taken out a 10-year lease on the outlet, at a rent of \u20ac90,000 per annum.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Previously occupied by Dealz, which closed earlier this year, the 3,000 sq ft unit will become the city\u2019s newest record store, due to open next week.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4857126_3_articleinline_1491290_1491290.jpg\" alt=\"HMV was previously located on Patrick Street, Cork, now occupied by Golden Discs. Picture: Denis Scannell\" title=\"HMV was previously located on Patrick Street, Cork, now occupied by Golden Discs. Picture: Denis Scannell\" class=\"card-img\"\/>HMV was previously located on Patrick Street, Cork, now occupied by Golden Discs. Picture: Denis Scannell<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Just two other units on the mall remain vacant, near the recently occupied Jo Brown luxury product store. Savills is in discussion with potential tenants in relation to both units.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Ms Dennehy and Mr Brennan said it was \u201cgreat to see another international brand enter the Cork market\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The decision by HMV to open a store in Cork \u2014 its third in the Republic \u2014 is part of a broader European growth strategy for the brand, which has also opened new stores in the UK and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4857129_3_articleinline_224685_ASLAN_1.jpg\" alt=\"The late Christy Dignam of Aslan meets Jane Kennington while her friend Danielle Buckley chats with other band members during the signing of autographs at HMV Cork in 2001. Picture: Eddie O'Hare\" title=\"The late Christy Dignam of Aslan meets Jane Kennington while her friend Danielle Buckley chats with other band members during the signing of autographs at HMV Cork in 2001. Picture: Eddie O'Hare\" class=\"card-img\"\/>The late Christy Dignam of Aslan meets Jane Kennington while her friend Danielle Buckley chats with other band members during the signing of autographs at HMV Cork in 2001. Picture: Eddie O&#8217;Hare<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It reopened its Dublin store in 2023 and a Limerick store last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The expansion is part of the company\u2019s focus on prime retail locations and \u2018confidence in the future of physical media\u2019, borne out by the vinyl comeback, despite the rise of digital music, streaming services, and online shopping.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Rival music retailer Golden Discs has also withstood the digital onslaught and retains its high profile spot at the old Savoy Cinema on St Patrick\u2019s St, which was previously occupied by HMV.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Golden Discs has been in its current location since 2013, when it took over from HMV, which went into administration and closed all of its Irish stores in 2013.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4857132_3_articleinline_1117346.jpg\" alt=\"Lisa O'Sullivan and Hazel Murphy meet The Coronas after their gig at HMV Cork in 2009. Picture: Michael Mac Sweeney\/Provision\" title=\"Lisa O'Sullivan and Hazel Murphy meet The Coronas after their gig at HMV Cork in 2009. Picture: Michael Mac Sweeney\/Provision\" class=\"card-img\"\/>Lisa O&#8217;Sullivan and Hazel Murphy meet The Coronas after their gig at HMV Cork in 2009. Picture: Michael Mac Sweeney\/Provision<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In 2015, the company opened a small outlet in Mahon Point Shopping Centre, but that closed in early 2020, as the pandemic took hold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">HMV managing director Phil Halliday said the company plans \u201cto continue focusing on opening stores in Ireland and across mainland Europe as our main targets for expansion, where it currently makes more sense to do so from a business point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">As part of its European expansion, HMV currently accepts international delivery orders for Republic of Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Germany, and is looking to expand that selection in the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">HMV opened its flagship St Patrick\u2019s St store in the early \u201890s during the peak of CD and DVD retail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The shop was a major cultural hub, hosting in-shop signings, album launches, and events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than a decade after it left the heart of Cork City, His Master\u2019s Voice (HMV) is making&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[56004,18,19,17,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-177042","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-commercial-property-munster-to-let","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-technology"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115538217448775799","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}