HMV Bucks The Trend With The Opening Of Europe's Largest Record Store

Make no mistake, the good folk of Birmingham are a lucky lot. Earlier this year, they welcomed the world's largest Primark store which opened in the city center, and now HMV are set to follow suit with the opening of Europe's largest entertainment store.

And for entertainment, read not just CDs but vinyl records. Now, for those reading this who are of the so-called Z persuasion, perhaps I should explain. Because, before iTunes and Spotify, records were once popular, very popular.

They came in a circular design and were played on a record player, or for the audiophiles, a turntable. Oh-and whisper it-the sound quality was far better than the sanitized, digital sounds we are subjected to today.

But despite this, music went online didn't it? Today, and for many years, we've no longer bought physical, old fashioned analogue. Don't know about you but I can't be doing with pulling a record out of its sleeve, placing it on a turntable and then gently, very gently, lowering the stylus into place only to receive a symphony of snap, crackle and pop.

But there's one man who thinks differently. One man who stubbornly persists with the idea that something which is not only authentic but real and honest, should be preserved, nurtured. Because, well, just because.

Because in today's world, seemingly everything is digital. From your washing machine to your car to your coffee machine to your fridge. It's all gone digital and we've been accustomed to being educated that digital is right, digital is good.

But one man thinks differently. Doug Putman is 35 years old. That puts him squarely in the millennial iTunes generation. But his vision for the future of music is far removed from the instant, download generation he grew up with.

And he is reviving the HMV brand.

He's a self-confessed vinyl nut who has already re-opened 14 of the 28 HMV stores that closed last December. And the new Birmingham store is his personal cathedral to authenticity. Where music aficionados can worship at the very altar of vinyl. And let's face it, that has to be a good thing.

"I believe we can grow the chain. A lot of high streets are challenged and struggling. The UK has got an amazing high street and we want to support that. There is something really special about it and when it's gone, it's gone."

What he's describing is a new customer experience. While the old HMV sold records, CDs and DVDs, the new one sells experiences.

And he's passionate.

The Birmingham store has a stage to host bands. DJs are welcome and it has a screening room. In other words, everything that online can't deliver. And that's the point. Delivering a physical experience which will linger in the memory.

Because we're all human beings and after all, the memory of the experience lasts far longer than the experience itself.

So, if you're like me, while you may not be about to cancel your Spotify subscription, getting reacquainted with vinyl suddenly makes perfect sense.