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It is the news staff in London's Oxford Street dreaded, a major retailer is pulling out. HMV has announced that it is closing its 35,000 square feet Bond Street store meaning uncertainty for 100s of workers barely a month before Christmas. The store will shut in the New Year after the music retailer sold it's leasehold to US fashion firm Forever 21 for £13.75 million. It says it will use most of the money to reduce debts, but will invest in its other West End stores in Eastern Oxford Street and Piccadilly. It's hoped most staff will be deployed to other stores around London. Nearly 11 per cent was wiped off the market capitalisation of HMV Group after like-for-like sales plummeted by 14.9 per cent over the 19 weeks to 4 September. Simon Fox, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "In the current challenging retail climate and against a backdrop of changing entertainment markets, this transaction on a multiple of over 8x current profits represents excellent value for our shareholders". Last month the music retail giant hinted it was edging closer to merging with its book store Waterstone’s who have two stores on Oxford Street and several more in the West End. Both brands are owned by the HMV Group and stock similar items, sales are slumping and gadgets such as eBooks mean more empty floor space. Fox added: "We are confident of consolidating a proportion of the store’s sales into the remainder of HMV’s West End estate, including our flagship store at Oxford Street, where we recently extended our lease for a further 10 years. HMV's strong London presence will also enable us to redeploy our store colleagues from 360 Oxford Street to stores within a reasonable travelling distance."
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