HMV pulls out of Ireland, 300 jobs cut from closed stores

HMV is pulling out of the Irish market entirely, closing all 16 of its stores in the region and laying off 300 employees from said stores, the company announced today to the Irish Examiner.

Those employees were on a temporary unpaid leave while the gaming retailer's administration firm, Deloitte, looked for a company to buy the Irish brick-and-mortar HMV locations. That search, according to a statement released by the company, was unsuccessful.

"The marketplace is very difficult given competition from web-based retailers and digital downloads, compounded by a number of other factors including high levels of rent," the statement reads. "All stores were loss making and it was not possible to attract a purchaser."

It is unclear whether these 16 stores are part of the 66 stores which Deloitte confirmed last week would be closed over the next two months, resulting in the firing of 930 employees. We've reached out to Deloitte for clarification.