With over 80 years of trading history and more than 150 stores around the country, HMV is the UK's leading specialist retailer of Music, DVDs and Games. The HMV brand, made
famous by the instantly recognisable dog and trumpet trademark, has also been successfully exported around the rest of the world, with a further 150 stores trading across North America, Asia and Europe.

Operating within a highly competitive sector of the retail industry, HMV's continued success depends on the experience it is able to offer customers and in-store displays are a significant element in this. While much of the signage and displays in HMV stores is mass produced and comes directly from publishers and promoters, individual stores increasingly require ad-hoc signage for local promotions and to help direct customers to specific categories and offers.

In response, HMV's flagship Oxford Street store has invested in a large format digital printing solution to provide graphic displays for all HMV's central London stores. Based on Epson's Stylus Pro 10000 printer, the system comprises a PC and BestColor RIP from Spandex, the world's largest supplier of technologies and materials to the sign and display industry and Colourgen, one of Epson's distributors of large format digital printing solutions.

Most of the displays required are narrow strips which are located above racks of CDs, DVDs and videos. Also some larger signage is used to promote individual products and special offers. To save preparation time and provide consistency, HMV's printing department has created a number of templates which it uses to prepare the displays.

"We now offer a service where store managers simply provide us with an image and a request for displays and we can produce them as quickly as they need," said Adam Smith, who manages the printing service for HMV's London stores. Having joined the display department at HMV just as the new digital printing solution was installed, Adam has been impressed with its ease-of-use and reliability: "Since Spandex installed the system it has been virtually no problem. It is very straightforward to use and requires little maintenance," he reported.

"The Epson printer produces photo-quality graphics and allows us to be even more creative in the design of our displays. The speed of the printer means we could potentially design, layout and print an urgent request within an hour."

Having a full digital printing solution in-house gives HMV's stores in the West End a flexible and very personal graphics display service. "If each store had to generate local signage from a third party, the cost would become a major issue and, as experience shows, it would be done as sparingly as possible. Having made the investment in the technology, it is in the stores' best interests to make as much use of localised signage as possible - which they certainly are!" concluded Adam Smith.

For further information contact
Melanie Enser, Colourgen Tel: 01628 588722.