After successfully running a HMV shop in Derry for 10-years, the former manager was sad to see his shop go, so he decided to start his own venture… called HVM.
You may remember all the news about HMV going into receivership at the start of this year due to poor profits (this might refresh your memory). Well one ex-HMV manager, Tony Cregan, says his store in Derry was running just fine. Sadly, that didn’t stop the big wigs from closing the shop, so Tony decided to open up his own with the help of a local businessman.
Tony initially got the support of the city mayor and 15,000 signatures on a petition in order to keep the old shop open, but he then decided to go out on his own with HVM when the campaign fell through.
“We thought what is the point calling the new shop Local CDs or whatever, we’ll just call it HVM. HMV is gone,” he said.
Changing the ordering of the letters didn’t go down too well with the folk back in His Master’s Voice (HMV), which is the name of the company trading here in Ireland and the UK and which is now run by the restructuring specialists Hilco.
Here’s what their lawyers had to say to Tony: “The continued presence in the market of your business operating under the name HVM has caused and will continue to cause substantial damage to our client’s reputation and goodwill.”
So in order not to offend anyone, Tony decided to change the name of the store AGAIN, by simply turning the letters upside down. The shop is now called WAH…
According to the Irish Independent, a small speech bubble was added to the sign, saying: “His Master’s Voice has told us to change.”
Talk about sticking it to The Man…
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