Music World forced to close after 13 years

An iconic music and movie store is to close this month.

Music World owner Michael DeMello says sales of CDs and DVDs have plummeted because shoppers are increasing downloading songs and films online.

None of his five employees will lose their jobs but be redeployed at his new warehouse, Fresh N New in Hamilton Parish.

Music World has been in the Bermudiana Arcade since 1998.

Mr DeMello said: “It’s a sign of the times. We’ve had this planned for a little while but were just waiting for the other business to be set up and running before we transfer our staff over.

“You have a whole generation of kids who haven’t spent a dime on music or movies with the speed of the Internet.

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“Most of the major labels have changed their business model.”

Mr DeMello said music companies now only want to deal with major chains such as Wal-Mart, Amazon and Best Buy or sell directly through their own website.

He added: “Pretty soon they’ll cut out the middleman completely and you’ll just download it at your house.”

Mr DeMello said CD sales started falling about six years ago.

He added: “Every year, we’ve slowly had less and less sales. DVD sales were keeping us afloat until about two years ago.”

Music World is having a closing down sale with much of the stock reduced by 50 per cent.

Mr DeMello said: “I hope to close at the end of the month but it depends on how fast the sales go. I might extend it to June depending on how much product I have left.

“We stopped ordering new releases about three weeks ago. We sent a lot of goods back to our vendors so whatever is left now is 50 per cent off.” The new store is expected to officially launch about July 1 but could be open about mid-June.

Mr DeMello, along with his father Eddie and his brother Jason, own the original Fresh N New at Devil’s Hole in Smith’s.

The second location will be in the old glass blowing building across from Grotto Bay Beach Resort.

Mr DeMello said: “I won’t be losing any staff and nobody will be out of a job.”

Any leftover DVD stock could be moved to the two Fresh N New stores as both locations plans on selling them but “we’re going to stay away from music”. Mr DeMello added: “We might still do a special order service.”

The closure of Music World means Music Box and Soundstage will be the major players in the local CD sales business.

Mr DeMello said: “This is not the industry you want to get into right now. It might work for some  but most people are downloading straight from the Internet.

“The faster the Internet speed gets here, the more you are going to see people steering away from going to a physical location to get music or movies.”