Music Zone in Administration

dachshund_2

My comments were made in the heat of the moment, and I apologise for the tone. I still, however, view the 'good riddance' comments as unacceptable and small-minded.

spaghetti_unemployed

well because im a bit of a geek i found out that there are approx 10 towns/cities that already have a MZ and Fopp, so like MZ did when they took over MVC they will keep both open for now, see which makes the most then shut the other site! so any MZers who celebrated when you got your jobs back - be careful!
i just hope Fopps financial backers dont get cold feet and back out and then everyone will be back in this situation again this time next year!

itsjojustjo

I don't understand it, Music Zone was always packed with people

milkfloatquack

Music Zone in Birkenhead was open yesterday, with a sign up saying they could only take cash at the moment (!), so hopefully there will be more reopenings over the weekend.

Simon_H1986

I don't know whats happening in the towns which have both Fopp and MZ's. I know of one where only one shop separates the two, so no clue about that..
However, Fopp picked up 67 of the 72 MZ stores that didnt get closed originally, and i dont know about the others, but most of my staff are back, only missing two at the most. Normality returns, and Fopp are already far better employers than Music Zone were. I still feel sorry for the Zone though. Went before its time.....

highguyuk

Simon_H1986 wrote:

Normality returns, and Fopp are already far better employers than Music Zone were.

Can I ask how you have come to this conclusion in such a short space of time? I'm not involved in MZ or FOPP, but am interested in how another employer can be considered far better so quickly.

Simon_H1986

Sure, its actually quite straightforward

For one thing, Fopp have already told us what we're going to be doing, what they expect of us, and already one of the highest ranking (for want of better words) has visited all of the new stores, so to be honest, they've shown a huge interest in their investment personally, which is something MZ never did, obviously it wanted us to succeed, but never had anyone (other than an MZ store manager) visit any of the stores....

Moreso, if you want to take this to basic levels, Fopp are finally paying the MZ staff a wage that is not only deserved, but also, is actually quite flattering. So the very raw details are better, add to that more holiday, discount etc etc. There is a cocktail for a very content workforce. If you had worked for MZ you'd have seen that their short comings were more or less all in the HR department, they used all stick and no carrot, and weren't shy to bring the stick down hard with very little cause or warning. I didnt experience this myself, but saw those that did and it was very frustrating.

I could go on, but to be honest.... i actually dont want to type anymore, i enjoyed my job based on who i work with and what i was doing as opposed to who i worked for and the way they treated staff.... now with Fopp all of that is added bonus

Minimoo_2

I thought Fopp was a good thing taking over Music Zone, but I was in the Birkenhead store yesterday and found that the prices had risen dramatically from MZ. With HMV in spitting distance from them, I was surprised at the raise. At least, MZ were reasonable.

Minimoo_2

Does anyone know why Music Zone in Chester has closed?. I thought maybe it was for a refit, but it's been ages.

milkfloatquack

presumably it was one of the ones that Fopp didn't want to buy and run.