TnP talks to Gary Williamson, hmv director of pop culture – UK and Europe, about new trends, stock, stores and more
What’s your career background?
I’ve worked in retail since an early age. My first job (unpaid) was cleaning the stockroom in my local record store at the age of 12, for which I received free 7in singles! I’ve worked mainly on the entertainment side in retail and for 95% of my working life I’ve been with hmv.
What does your role entail?
Strategy and planning for the store chain across the UK and Europe, and the advancement of pop culture.
Tell us about hmv.
Hmv has been around longer than you think. We started in 1921 and now have a total of 118 stores, and of course our .com store. Plus, we own the music, films and books chain Fopp, which operates stores in Manchester, Glasgow, London (Covent Garden), Cambridge, Edinburgh and Nottingham – the latter opened in June.
We also have sister store chains in North America: F.Y.E in the US, and Toys R Us and Sunrise in Canada.
We are owned by Doug Putman. In the UK we are run by our MD Phil Halliday along with two other directors: marketing and commercial director Patrizia Leighton and head of retail operations Laurence Price.
In the UK we are everywhere from Aberdeen to Brighton – and I must mention my hometown store of Manchester. We launched in Dublin in 2023 and have a three-floor store there. And one week last November saw us open our flagship on London’s Oxford Street, a store in Birmingham’s Bullring, and our first store in Belgium in Antwerp. In April we opened our second Belgian store in Brussels.
Store sizes vary depending on the location but around 4,000-5,000sq ft is the norm, and we have stores situated in shopping centres and on the high street. So in the UK, you’re never far from an hmv. In the coming years, we will look to Europe to expand.
What sets you apart from other retailers of toys and games?
I believe the enthusiasm and drive of our 1,400 store colleagues makes a massive difference. I can clearly see on store visits that they are fans of the products we sell, and their knowledge is passed on to our pop culture fan customers.
From a head office point of view, we react hourly and daily to new trends coming through. Did you know you can now find a selection of Japanese sweets in our stores, as well as trending board games? By the very nature of pop culture, we have to constantly evolve every hour of every day. If we continue to do that, our customers will see us as a must go-to destination when they shop.
What’s your customer demographic?
Everyone, from eight-year-olds buying a pack of Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards as their first venture into pop culture, all the way to super pop culture fans who must have that £300 Star Wars figure.
Our stores are treasure troves for pop culture; we aim to have something for everyone. The stores invite you as a customer to come and meet similar fans of pop culture – be that a staff member who loves all things Five Nights At Freddy’s, or other customers who you can meet and chat to.
Describe your range.
Our range is ever-changing and new lines are coming in daily. For example, this week we have – for the first time – introduced Care Bears into our mix. And in a couple of weeks, we will be introducing Winning Moves and Rubber Road ranges. We also have activations going in for the first time from the likes of Lego and Stor. Also, seasonality is a key factor for when suppliers and lines are introduced.
Where do you source products?
Again, this is ever-changing – and from all over the world. Products could be sourced via contacts on LinkedIn, meetings at the various trade fairs, or from reading articles in a magazine such as Toys n Playthings. Social media is a massive help nowadays too, so I’m on that 24 hours looking for opportunities.
Our current supplier base is around the 300 mark, but we have new contracts going through daily where we spot an opportunity. I’ve dealt with certain suppliers such as Pyramid and Heroes Inc for 30-plus years, and this has been a massive part of our success. Suppliers like these know what we sell and source it accordingly. But we also have suppliers such as Kap Toys, which we’ve known for a couple of years, and two weeks ago saw the introduction of Wow! Stuff product lines.
Core categories change all the time; it can be blind bags, then figurines, then card games… depending on what the customer wants.
Key to growth for us is the involvement at director level from our suppliers. Take for example, Nic Aldridge of Bandai UK and Alex Neal of Mighty Jaxx. We talk daily and weekly to spot opportunities and trends. This level of customer service from these two managing directors has made a massive difference.
Who are your key suppliers?
All our suppliers are key, from Mighty Jaxx, Bandai, Hasbro, Wizards Of The Coast and of course Funko and Loungefly, to a much smaller supplier who may only have five to six skus in place with us.
Our supplier base can grow very quickly. For instance, when we introduced plush for the first time four years ago, we had the likes of Aurora World, Posh Paws International and Kenji (UK) join up with us in a matter of weeks. Key here are the account managers of these suppliers. They are vital in helping us to react. So Viki White, Mandy Warburton, and Derek Yong respectively deserve a big round of applause for their part in this.
What are your key categories?
Core categories change all the time; it can be blind bags, then figurines, then card games… depending on what the customer wants.
Key to growth for us is the involvement at director level from our suppliers. Take for example, Nic Aldridge of Bandai UK and Alex Neal of Mighty Jaxx. We talk daily and weekly to spot opportunities and trends. This level of customer service from these two managing directors has made a massive difference.
What’s your selection criteria?
Our selection criteria is based on what key franchises are being released – especially across cinema and TV from the likes of Netflix and Disney+ – and how they fit in with the various product lines we do.
We have product meetings every day to discuss ideas and suggest how we activate them in-store. Planning can start two years out from release, but if an activation that we test in-store is successful, it can be a matter of days before we get it in all stores – so we react very quickly.
How do you get the word out there?
Social media is everything now: that’s where we see trends first. So if you take a look at our Instagram site and X, we’re always pushing what we have in and what promotions we’re doing. We also have digital screens in a selection of our stores’ windows, which highlight key activity.
In-store events can be anything from our Oxford store inviting a K-Pop dance troupe in, or our Birmingham Vault branch which has a K-Pop Store inside. Clare, the manager of our Solihull store, hosts K-Pop events inside Birmingham Vault, which get 600-plus fans turning up. So anything is possible – just come and ask us!
What’s next for hmv?
We will continue to strengthen our position as the place to come for pop culture – and we have a whole host of new ideas and categories that we want to try or introduce over the next few months. So watch this space!
New stores? Where the opportunity presents itself to us, and conditions are right, then we will look to take up the opportunity to bring hmv to those areas. We have plans but these are currently under wraps. We will announce them as soon as possible.
Finally, what’s the most rewarding part of your job?
Quite simply, working for hmv and pop culture, and delivering the best customer service and product lines we can. Challenges come and go, but we dive head-first in and learn from
