Workers at music retailer Fopp anxiously await news on whether they will receive their pay packets and keep their jobs – following rumours it may go into administration.
Fopp has admitted it is in “genuine and lengthy negotiations with its bank” after closing 46 of its stores for a stock-take last Friday, just a week after cancelling orders from publishers and halting online sales.
The news comes as rival HMV declared a £50m loss in profits this week for the year ending in April, amid difficult market conditions and growing competition.
A statement from the company last weekend said: “Fopp continues genuine and lengthy negotiations with its bank, and is not in administration. Stock-taking is now complete, stores re-opened on Saturday and will continue to remain open.”
However, further problems brewed up Thursday 28 June, as Fopp is “believed to have told some staff that they would not receive their pay packets today, and that there was no certainty the stores would open,” The Scotsman reported.
A notice on Fopp’s website stated: “Due to circumstances beyond our control, we cannot currently take orders online. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
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Fopp took over 67 stores from failed competitor Music Zone in February, which is believed to have put pressure on the company’s finances. It began trading as an independent company in Glasgow in 1981, selling discounted chart music and books.
