With the news today that Asda is in talks to stop HMV’s iconic and cherished brand disappearing from the high street, questions of feasibility are not the only thoughts to spring to mind.

Ask anyone over 21 and they can no doubt recount fond memories of perusing albums in person - often in a multitude of formats - before the internet irreversibly changed the way we consume and buy music (not to mention films and video games).

However, being sentimental about changing consumer habits should not be part of any serious retailer’s business plan. Or should it?

If HMV is to see in its 100th birthday in 2021, it needs a radical overhaul of its business model - that is certain. And it will certainly be a more slimmed down and lean version that survives, if at all. Administrators Deloitte have already earmarked over 100 of its 233 stores - at the time of its collapse - for closure, while more than 1,500 people have been lost from its once 4,000-strong workforce.

Whether it is Asda or another entity that keeps His Master’s Voice alive, the historic brand will have to recreate the excitement and enjoyment that customers have felt over the last 92 years by visiting a physical shop, whether they were buying gramophones, vinyl, cassette tapes, CDs, Blu-rays or downloads.

While shoppers are looking for an authentic experience they are also looking for value, an image that Asda has consistently aimed to engender in all it does.

Figures provided by the Entertainment retailers Association from 2012 show that UK sales of music, video and games still favour ‘bricks and mortar’ with 54.1% of sales to 45.9% online, although music and games are both more commonly bought online. It should not be forgotten that HMV did generate £900m of sales in 2012 - it’s far from a fruitless market.

However, if a company is to stay afloat in this competitive and changing market, it must offer a good deal for squeezed wallets, and that is where Asda may be able to offer what others can’t.

For decades Asda has advertised itself as the UK’s cheapest supermarket. If this can be coupled with an authentic ‘record shop’ experience, the supermarket may be able to change the fortunes of a brand that has seemingly been the canary in a cage for an industry moving online.

“It is possible for a value proposition and an experiential proposition to coexist on the high street by finding the right mix of products and experiences at the right margin,” ERA director general Kym Bayley told The Grocer today. Asda has strong competition in the form of Hilco, the restructuring specialist who took on HMV’s £176m debt for a reported £40m just a week after the chain called in the administrators. But from here, it looks like Asda would be the most interesting choice.

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