SHOPPERS have been unable to use gift vouchers after HMV called in administrators putting more than 4,000 jobs at risk.
The appointment of Deloitte as administrator to the 92-year-old business comes after the recent failures of Jessops and Comet caused the closure of 422 stores and loss of more than 8,000 jobs.
The entertainment chain’s 238 outlets, including those in Wrexham and Chester, will remain open while Deloitte attempts to find a buyer for some or all of the business.
It is understood there will be widespread store closures as a result of the collapse.
Administration also means the company has stopped accepting vouchers and gift cards, many of which were given as Christmas presents.
Yesterday outside the Wrexham store a number of shoppers expressed their anger at the move.
Michelle Sharp from Wrexham said: “I’ve just been in there with my 12 year-old son’s Christmas vouchers and they won’t accept them.
“He had them as a present from his family and friends and now his present is gone.”
Roy Jackson, 78, from Wrexham said: “It’s a pity it’s closing, I’ve been going in there for years.”
When asked for his thoughts on the store no longer accepting vouchers Mr Jackson added: “I think that’s disgraceful. People have paid for them and should be allowed to use them.”
Tom Richards, 19, an art and design student at Yale College in Wrexham, said he would be sad if the store closed down.
“It’s sad people are going to be losing their jobs. Hopefully someone will come in and buy it because I still want to shop here,” he said.
Squeezed by internet retailers and supermarkets, whose scale has enabled them to offer CDs and DVDs at cheaper prices, HMV warned before Christmas that the entertainment group was in trouble.
HMV’s boss Trevor Moore said the group would fail to meet expectations for the year to April and it would breach the terms of its loan agreements later this month.
Suppliers including Universal Music came to HMV’s rescue in January 2011 with a deal which helped the retailer shed some of its huge debt pile.
But according to the Financial Times, they turned down a request from HMV for about £300 million in additional financing last week.
On Monday evening the company suspended its shares on the Stock Exchange and released a statement announcing it was appointing an administrator.