HMV, the entertainment retailer, has entered the leisure space with the opening of a cinema and bar above its store in Wimbledon.
The company has entered into a partnership with Curzon to launch the 270-capacity three-screen cinema at the end of last week.
Consumers will be able to take alcoholic beverages into the cinema and buy DVDs at the bar and café.
HMV said that the joint venture was part of plans to turn the retailer into an entertainment group for all seasons and that if the concept was a success it would develop further HMV Curzon cinemas.
Simon Fox, the company’s chief executive, said: “The big picture is that we need to change our business faster than the markets around us are changing. We want to see how we can get more of our customer’s entertainment spend.”
In January, the retailer spent £18.2m to buy a half-share in a group of live music venues including the Apollo in Hammersmith, West London, and the G-A-Y bar in Soho in the centre of the capital.
