Blackburn shop's sales boom after offering discounts to tattooed customers

2:32pm Wednesday 31st October 2012 in News

Jon Bee and Kelly Thomas with their pro-tattoo sign Jon Bee and Kelly Thomas with their pro-tattoo sign

A SHOP has seen its sales boom since offering a 10 per cent discount to tattooed customers.

The initiative by Bee.com follows HMV’s strict new appearance policy banning their employees from having any body art on show.

Jon Bee, manager of the King William Street shop, said: “It’s just a bit of fun really. Our shop is opposite HMV and we get on with the guys over there.

“We know some of them have tattoos so I can’t imagine they’re too happy about it.”

The branch was given the option to offer the discount by their regional manager and chose to accept it.

Mr Bee said: “It’s definitely worked, we’ve had more ‘likes’ on Facebook since doing this than anything we’ve done before.

“I can’t understand it really, they’re selling music and want to be a part of the scene but then they go and do this, especially at a time when they aren’t doing so well, it seems stupid.”

The discount applies to any single part-owned items, such as DVDs or films, which are not part of multipacks.

Mr Bee said: “It’s not an enormous discount but when it adds up it definitely makes a difference.”

Kelly Thomas, sales assistant, said: “We had a big queue yesterday. One woman you just wouldn’t expect to have one was stripping off to show us one on her shoulder.

“I worked for HMV for nine years and it was always a really good environment and I’ve got one or two tattoos.

“It’s part of the music scene. It seems really strange they’re doing this and they’re not having the best of times.”

The Union of Shop Workers (USDAW) said HMV’s employees were not unionised, although they do have a number of its employees in their union.

A spokesperson for USDAW said: “Members concerned about the new policy should contact their local branch and we will represent them.”

Comments(50)

Mr Buckler says...
4:08pm Wed 31 Oct 12

A sales boom for Bee blackburn is good news seeing as they have TO LET signs on their premises,just hope it aint too late.

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useyourhead says...
4:24pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Wait for the first numpty sourpuss to start claiming its discriminatory lol.
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Mr Buckler says...
4:32pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Wish people would leave HMV alone they employ a lot of people and are the best store in town for films and music.

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MerlinTheVoiceofReason2 says...
5:17pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Wonder if any girls will show their tattooed rears? Great excuse for the staff to perve! :)

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Symboy21 says...
5:34pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Nice additional advert in the Telegragh

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Mr Buckler says...
5:38pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Its supposed to be a newspaper not a publicity generator.

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2 for 5p says...
7:04pm Wed 31 Oct 12

useyourhead wrote:
Wait for the first numpty sourpuss to start claiming its discriminatory lol.
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Well what else is it, if I ever go in that shop I'll ask for the 10% discount , even though I don't have a tatoo. If I don't get it NO SALE

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woolywords says...
7:22pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Mr Buckler wrote:
Wish people would leave HMV alone they employ a lot of people and are the best store in town for films and music.
I fail to see why anyone would want to use music shops in this day and age. When for a really modest fee, you can, to a certain extent, have access to over 8 million tracks online, over 4 million high quality movies and heaven knows how many books.
My qualified statement, 'to a certain extent' is because my Internet Service Provider blocked my access to a particular website, yet does absolutely nothing about the plethora of pornographic material that is available.

HMV continues to face really stiff competition from online sales which contributed to the demise of the chain, Game. HMV is still in the process of closing stores throughout it's chain and given the dire state of our local economy I would expect The Mall store to be another casualty.

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MerlinTheVoiceofReason2 says...
7:37pm Wed 31 Oct 12

woolywords wrote:
Mr Buckler wrote:
Wish people would leave HMV alone they employ a lot of people and are the best store in town for films and music.
I fail to see why anyone would want to use music shops in this day and age. When for a really modest fee, you can, to a certain extent, have access to over 8 million tracks online, over 4 million high quality movies and heaven knows how many books.
My qualified statement, 'to a certain extent' is because my Internet Service Provider blocked my access to a particular website, yet does absolutely nothing about the plethora of pornographic material that is available.

HMV continues to face really stiff competition from online sales which contributed to the demise of the chain, Game. HMV is still in the process of closing stores throughout it's chain and given the dire state of our local economy I would expect The Mall store to be another casualty.
People buy physical goods for one very simple reason - when you buy digital music or books you do not own the product, you are signing a DRM contract which allows you to lease the product from its owner. The owner/supplier can terminate that contract at any time, often for no good reason and does not need to explain its rationale. This has happened recently with Kindle.

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MerlinTheVoiceofReason2 says...
7:38pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Symboy21 wrote:
Nice additional advert in the Telegragh
It's not an advert. It's called PR. It's been happening ever since the dawn of print media. Editors know the score, so do readers, it's a useful way of filling space on a slow news day. You do not need to visit the shop.

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JonBee says...
8:12pm Wed 31 Oct 12

I am the manager of Bee and yes it's good local publicity. We are a small independent store trying to do what we can. The To Let sign has been up since we got there a year ago. Honest truth is no one has ever been to remove it! We just have a bit of fun with customers. We love HMV, and it's the kind of place we aspire to be. If people would rather shop there than with is then that's great, but obviously we would do our best to try and be an option. We have nothing but admiration for them. I'd hope no one took all this too serious. It's a bit of fun and we hope people come and take advantage of our offer!

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California Blue says...
10:53pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Encouraging people to have tattoos isn't a good policy. Kids seeing people being rewarded for having tattoos isn't good policy either. Only 2 kind of people have tattoos, the uneducated and attention seekers!

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Major Tom says...
11:38pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Discrimination! If they had brought race or religion into it they wouldn't be allowed to do it.

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Mr Buckler says...
11:59pm Wed 31 Oct 12

JonBee wrote:
I am the manager of Bee and yes it's good local publicity. We are a small independent store trying to do what we can. The To Let sign has been up since we got there a year ago. Honest truth is no one has ever been to remove it! We just have a bit of fun with customers. We love HMV, and it's the kind of place we aspire to be. If people would rather shop there than with is then that's great, but obviously we would do our best to try and be an option. We have nothing but admiration for them. I'd hope no one took all this too serious. It's a bit of fun and we hope people come and take advantage of our offer!
I do remember Bee doing a similar stunt when Game was having difficulties,why resort to sneaky tricks to gain an advantage,and i`m pretty sure The Blackburn store is part of a chain and not an independant shop.Also the surveyors webite list the premises as a new listing,people can still arrange to view it.

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Mr Buckler says...
12:04am Thu 1 Nov 12

Bee did a similar stunt when Game was having difficulties with suppliers and they are part of a chain not an independant shop,seems a bit unfair to the people working at HMV,they are just normal working class people who are under pressure from management,why resort to sneaky tricks to gain a few sales?
The sign is there for a reason as according to the surveyors website the premises is a new listing,intersted parties can arrange to view it.

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JonBee says...
12:07am Thu 1 Nov 12

We are sorry if anyone finds it discriminatory and I can assure you that isn't the case. We also do student discount on selected things and have been very good with armed forces members, and I am sure people don't see those as discriminatory! It's a little light hearted fun, and we hope people take it that way.

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JonBee says...
12:14am Thu 1 Nov 12

Hi Mr Buckler. With Game again, it was all a bit of light hearted competition and as staff we have 25 years between us working for Game in our past careers and we have a lot of friends there. We gave jobs to some of the staff when they got made redundant also. And with the to let sign, all I can say is that sign has been up since we moved in over a year ago. We aren't a chain as such, as we have 4 stores and each store is run independently from the others. Again, all this is just a little light hearted fun. No sneaky tricks intended, and we apologise if that's the impression some people get.

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Mr Buckler says...
12:14am Thu 1 Nov 12

It might be fun for you but what about the people that have jobs at HMV do you think they find it funny?, alot of them will be worried abourt store closures and this is the last thing they need.

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JonBee says...
12:22am Thu 1 Nov 12

At no point are we making fun of anything that happens with people's jobs and many of us have been made redundant in the past. We totally sympathise with all staff at HMV. We adore the company and we hope it goes on for many many years to come. We all have business' to run and we all want to do well. We are all under threat from loss of jobs at some point and it would be unfair to think we get any pleasure from such a great establishment having any form of troubles. Some of our staff have worked there in the past, and I myself have purchased many items from the stores and the website. Again, we hope people take it as the light hearted banter it is.

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Mr Buckler says...
12:25am Thu 1 Nov 12

nice advert for HMV thank you Mr Bee.

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JonBee says...
12:33am Thu 1 Nov 12

We are not for stopping people shopping anywhere. We love who they are and we love who we are. We just enjoy making our customers happy. We do not want the high street losing businesses. We have a great set of customers and we hope our deals and prices make people choose us as a place to shop. That's all. :-) If you ever want the same 10% that other people get Mr Buckler, then pop in and see us. We will gladly let you have the same deal, tattoo or no tattoo.

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MatthewCA says...
6:39am Thu 1 Nov 12

Express ur tag on ur body
tattoo's follow where ever u go, discount is with u. So Get tattooed

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MatthewCA says...
6:40am Thu 1 Nov 12

Give a FREE tattoo to our new manager at Blackburn club - Berg.

he need more discount in the town.

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abbo01 says...
10:00am Thu 1 Nov 12

Mr Buckler wrote:
It might be fun for you but what about the people that have jobs at HMV do you think they find it funny?, alot of them will be worried abourt store closures and this is the last thing they need.
There's nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition is there? In business it's Everyman for them selves and if this promotion earns him some extra cash and safeguards his and his staffs jobs then fair play to him, there's to many people like you complaining about small matters like this, ever likely Blackburn is on its **** with people like you around.
Get a grip pal

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Mr Buckler says...
11:41am Thu 1 Nov 12

And if HMV did close its Blackburn branch who do you think that would look for the prestige of the town centre,we need to rally round not have a sneaky attack when they down.Also i suggest the manager of Bee should spend his efforts on getting the TO LET sign removed rather than having a dig at his neighbours.

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abbo01 says...
12:25pm Thu 1 Nov 12

What about all the pawn shops they have in Blackburn? They have them right next to each other practically why aren't you saying anything about them? And cloths shops, and travel agents etc etc.
Tell you what why don't we shut this guys shop just because it might take a few customers away from a multi million pound franchise?
Let go him on the dole as well as his staff.
I use Hmv but I would also check out this guys shop. What about when Hmv came to Blackburn and Andy's records shut what you saying about that????

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electro87 says...
12:33pm Thu 1 Nov 12

has no one noticed that their sign mentions that its not available on Ipads Twice. lol

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Mr Buckler says...
12:51pm Thu 1 Nov 12

It was just a cheap publicity stunt that may have back fired because they were taking advantage of other peoples misfortune,again.Not a very Christian thing to do is it.

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abbo01 says...
1:00pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Shot down bang bang.
I rest my case

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Mr Buckler says...
1:06pm Thu 1 Nov 12

You don`t have a case to rest ,plenty of clothes shops in Blackburn true enough but you don`t see them putting signs out mocking their neighbours do you?

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abbo01 says...
1:22pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Mate it's called BANTER I'm sure if Hmv had a problem with it they would take legal action but I'm pretty sure they haven't and won't. And what's "being Christian" got to do with anything?

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abbo01 says...
1:22pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Mate it's called BANTER I'm sure if Hmv had a problem with it they would take legal action but I'm pretty sure they haven't and won't. And what's "being Christian" got to do with anything?

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Mr Buckler says...
1:35pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Banter is something you do face to face what they did was cheap.

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abbo01 says...
1:37pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Well apparently they are giving 20% discount if you have a Prince Albert but proof is required on purchase.
What do you think about that?

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Mr Buckler says...
1:50pm Thu 1 Nov 12

In a shop? thats not likely is it ,now you just trying to be funny because you lost the argument.

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abbo01 says...
2:04pm Thu 1 Nov 12

How did I lose the debate? You did if you look back

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HarwoodBiker says...
2:43pm Thu 1 Nov 12

I love the readership of the LET sometimes.

"It's discriminatory!" - no, it's not. There's nothing stopping you from going out and getting a tattoo if you feel you really must get the 10% discount, is there?

Anyway, more to the point, since when has it possibly been a bad or immoral thing to do to run a promotion? That's how business works! Good luck to the guys at Bee music.

Besides, perhaps if HMV weren't so stubborn as to ban visible ink on staff when they're already teetering on the edge, then people may actually want to shop with them. They have most definitely lost a customer in me by doing that, as a tattoo lover!

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Mr Buckler says...
3:07pm Thu 1 Nov 12

There`s nothing wrong with running promotions and there`s nothing wrong with having tattoos i just don`t like the way they tried to gain cheap publicity at the expense of a neighbour,lets face it if HMV did close less people would come to Blackburn town centre.This would affect eveyone.

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abbo01 says...
3:38pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Listen the only reason Hmv would close is because more people are buying what they sell online. I get offers sent to me online all the time from Hmv offering me better deals than many small independent outlets. If I had a small business I would be doing what I could including these kinds of promotions to get the customers in, especially in Blackburn where lets face it there isn't a lot of cash going around and a small promotional discount would be welcome.

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richard says...
4:21pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Does anyone *really* believe a tiny shop like this offering 10% off pre-owned items to people with tattoos is in the remotest way contributing to the decline of HMV and high street music chains? Bloody hell, get real!

The real story here is the bizarre decision by HMV, as has been pointed out several times above. I'm guessing/hoping this was a decision made by some faraway suit - which would be another reason why HMV are failing if they are *this* out of touch with the high street and their customers.

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WWWYKI says...
5:41pm Thu 1 Nov 12

I really don't understand how a little indie shop running a cheeky promotion about tattoos has turned into them mocking the job security of HMV staff. I really don't think that is what they are doing at all, and tbh you keep mentioning the TO LET sign which I think is making you the insensitive one. Good for them at Bee, I've shopped with them before and will definatly shop with then again :)

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oracle999 says...
9:00pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Mr Buckler wrote:
It was just a cheap publicity stunt that may have back fired because they were taking advantage of other peoples misfortune,again.Not a very Christian thing to do is it.
Mr Buckler, you really are a class 1 numpty who actually has not idea what you are talking about.....clown! Do you spend you spare time popping childrens balloons and painting things grey?

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abbo01 says...
10:43pm Thu 1 Nov 12

At last someone else has seen the light

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Mr Buckler says...
10:52am Fri 2 Nov 12

It was a cheap and nasty stunt,that is all.

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WWWYKI says...
4:34pm Fri 2 Nov 12

It wasn't though was it Mr Buckler, it was a bit of fun you tool.

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Mr Buckler says...
11:27am Sat 3 Nov 12

A bit of fun that adds pressure on people already worried about their jobs,yeah thats fun.I see the TO LET sign is still up if the manager of BEE is
really concerned about his shops image why won`t he arrange to get that removed?

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abbo01 says...
6:37am Sun 4 Nov 12

Mr buckler
At 1st I thought you actually want to debate this subject but as the comments have gone on it seems that alls you want to do is argue for the sake of it, you really are stupid

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Mr Buckler says...
10:37am Sun 4 Nov 12

Lets face it everyone downloads music or films nowadays also Netflix and Lovefilm are killing high street DVD retailers so they will all be gone soon enough unless they come up with a plan to join tohgether and preserve a piece of the market,resorting to cheap tricks is not the answer..
And there`s no need to get abusive anyone would think you are employed by the company involved.I`m not surprised they are struggling its a ludicrous amount of rent and rates they pay on king william street.

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WWWYKI says...
9:53am Wed 7 Nov 12

Mr Buckler you infuriate me, I am still struggling to see where this shop and it's staff have brought up HMV's job security, this is because it is not menioned. The issue here is about Tattoos and about trying to remove the negative stigma that some people still have about tattoo's and how in this day in age the move HMV (as a company, not a personal attack against staff) have made seems like a big step backwards for equality, now I know that it is a persons choice to get a tattoo but they should not be judged because they have chosen to put a bit of art on there body. I have several tattoos and It has no affect on how I perform in my job role, or on how I am as a person, I am not a thug, common, uneducated. I'm a really nice person. HMV's decision to do this may make the few people who don't really like tattoos feel better but it may make the millions and millions of people with tattoos feel a bit alienated, tattoos are more popular than ever, and more importantly more accepted. A tattooed person does not care that some one has a tattoo and neither should anyone else. That is the issue, I cannot see any other personal attack against staff and job security in this article and the fact that you keep bringing up the To Let sign outside the shop makes you hypocrite and a nasty lttle guy for getting their staff worrying about their job security, and to be honest it makes you a bit dumb as that seems to be your main focus on a subject that could have a healthy debate.
Right I've started to ramble now so I'll leave it now.

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Mr Buckler says...
10:07am Wed 7 Nov 12

I disagree with HMV`s policy,i thinks its silly,but Bee are trying to take advantage,just like they did when GAME had supply problems.Not a nice thing to do.Retailers should join together to keep our high streets vibrant not hit each other when they down,if they love tattooos so much why didn`t they offer a discount when they first opened?

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