The US retailer opened its first UK store in 2010, selling a mix of electrical items as well as music, film and games - a combination that has never previously worked in the UK - in large out-of-town stores.

At the time HMV CEO Simon Fox questioned whether the Best Buy model - very successful in the US - would work over here, telling Music Week, "I have been an electrical retailer and in my experience the British public doesn't ...