Future Of Islands HMV And Waterstones Stores In Doubt?

 There’s panic on the Douglas high street as the future of two of its busiest stores has been plunged into doubt.

After a bad year the HMV Group, which owns both HMV and Waterstone’s Book Shop have said they are going to have to take aggressive action. 

They have said they will have to close 60 of it’s music stores and 20 Waterstone’s to plug their major deficit.

The group reported a 13.6 per cent slump in like-for-like sales in the five weeks to January 1st, traditionally the stores busiest period.

The severe weather was cited as the reason for the downturn.

It’s not yet known where they will be making the closures, but as two of Strand Street’s most popular stores it’s hoped that the Isle of Man will not feature in their plans.

A HMV spokersperson says the stores they close are likely to be close to each other and possibly trading in a city but they can't confirm any locations at this point in time.