HMV Set To Close – But There Are Plans To Reopen At a New Location

Published on: 19 Oct, 2025
Updated on: 21 Oct, 2025

HMV store in The Friary, Guildford

By Esme Campbell

Guildford is set to lose another high street shop as music retailer HMV prepares to shut down its store in The Friary.

The branch will be closed from Wednesday, October 29, until the company finds a new location, due to the landlord’s plans to redevelop the site that HMV occupies.

A company spokesperson said: “We are actively looking for a new space and hope we will not be away for long.”

The announcement follows a series of high street closures in Guildford. Department store House of Fraser shut its doors in 2023 and remains vacant, while the building that was Debenhams has been demolished.

Black Sheep Coffee in North Street closed in July after less than three years, reportedly because its lease was terminated. Fashion chain River Island shut down last year. 

HMV’s Guildford branch had previously been saved from closure in 2019. As the Guildford Dragon reported in February of that year, 27 HMV stores were being closed following the sale of the chain to a Canadian company.

HMV had gone into administration in December 2018 blaming a “tsunami of retail challenges”, including business rate levels and the move to digital.

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