The last of Kelowna’s CD stores set to close this spring

KELOWNA – Blame Shawn Parker and Napster.

The last of Kelowna’s dedicated CD stores will close its doors by the end of April.

Mallisa Jobin is the manager of HMV in Orchard Park Mall. She says while they have not been given an exact date when they will close, she and her nine employees are preparing for the inevitable.

“It’s the end of an era,” she says. “Shopping online is so impersonal. We have a rapport with our customers. They love looking through physical product and finding things they never thought of.”

The Kelowna HMV is one of 102 across Canada that will shut down by April 30, after an Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved an application to place HMV Canada Inc. into receivership two weeks ago.

HUK 10 Ltd., which lent money to the struggling chain, claimed HMV owes nearly $39 million and has received no cash payments since Nov. 2014.

According to court filings, the company was losing $100,000 a day when Senior Justice Geoffrey B. Morawetz appointed Gordon Brothers Canada ULC and Merchant Retail Solutions ULC as the agent to sell HMV's remaining merchandise.

“We’re getting through,” Jobin says of her team. “It’s going to be hard though.”

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