Music Zone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Music Zone is a music shop in the United Kingdom. There are over 100 branches of the company, which was formed in Levenshulme in 1984. It has gained a reputation for being one of the cheapest music stores on the High Street, often matching the low prices of CDs that can be found in supermarkets. It is also known for selling DVDs, Video casettes and Books.
The first store was a market stall run by Russ Grainger in Levenshulme. He was soon able to buy a permanent shop, located next to the Stolen From Ivor clothes shop, nearby the Tandy store in Stockport. Even though the store was small and with competitors ranging from similar opperators like Music Junction and Double 4 Records or majors like HMV, Our Price and Virgin, the firm managed to hold its own in the Stockport marketplace and soon after opened various branches in the Manchester region (taking on retailers such as Omega Music in Wigan).
[edit] Expansion
With local competitors such as Music Junction and Omega Music closing their branches, Music Zone started on a major expansion plan which saw it rebrand itself as a value led retailer called Muzic Zone Trade Direct. From the old Stockport store, the firm moved a few stores up the street to take over the top levels of the old Toy And Hobby shop (the ground floor is let to a shoe shop) which had been empty for a number of years. From this base the firm saw through its expansion plan which featured a value led emphasis on back catalogue, the abolishment of singles (though this measure was reversed in the 2000s) and a store design that featured a number of "nick-nacks" such as gobstopper machines.
The low prices of the DVDs and books proved popular, and by 2004 it had 55 stores nationwide. These were largely confined to Northern England, however.
In July 2005, the only London branch, located in Oxford Circus, closed down despite having a high customer base.
In late 2005 the company bought 41 outlets from failing chain MVC. This allowed it to spread nationwide, with its purchased stores trading as 'Music Zone' from 2006.
