The shop, which sells records, CD’s, movies, books and collectibles, closed on January 2 citing the floods that hit the town centre at the end of October last year. At the time though, HMV remained open and trading following the flooding and was open during the Christmas period.

The shop was closed for nearly six months last year, following the flooding in January 2023, and returned with a new look and a wider range of stock.

At one point Hastings town centre had five outlets selling new CDs and records. HMV is now the last mainstream outlet.

The first HMV-branded shop was opened by the Gramophone Company on London's Oxford Street in 1921, and the HMV name was also used for television and radio sets manufactured from the 1930s.

Since then the brand has had mixed fortunes. HMV's flagship shop at 150–154 Oxford Street was formerly the largest music shop in the world and by 2014, HMV had gained the second highest share of the UK entertainment market, behind Amazon.

On 28 December 2018, HMV confirmed it had been placed into administration, citing the "tsunami" of retail competition as the reason for the move. The Hastings shop closed with a question mark hanging over its future.

On 5 February 2019, Canadian record shop chain Sunrise Records announced its acquisition of HMV Retail Ltd for an undisclosed amount. Sunrise had previously acquired the leases for over 70 HMV locations in Canada after HMV Canada entered receivership.

In July 2021, HMV celebrated its 100th birthday. In celebration, the firm released limited edition vinyl albums and a 100 track CD compilation entitled Now That's What I Call HMV. The album was only available to buy at HMV shops, and online on HMV's website.

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