THE announcement that Bolton's Music Zone CD and DVD store has entered administration echoes the trend that has seen record and book shops hit hard by online competition.

The possible closure of the store - the company is looking for a buyer - could leave the town with just one independent music and book store, with major chains also claiming a poor Christmas and New Year.

Music Zone, based in the Market Place, is one of 104 stores across the UK to be hit by the company's decision to go into administration after its bank decided to recover debts without notice and with immediate effect.

The company says pre-Christmas spending was poorer than expected, yet only last year was claiming to be "optimistic about future growth".

Music Zone said in a statement: "There is a growing number of high street retailers like Music Zone experiencing challenging trading conditions. Pre-Christmas spending was poorer than expected.

"The decision by our bankers to recover debts and withdraw credit facilities without notice and with immediate effect left us and our private equity backers with no real alternative other than to appoint administrators."

With HMV announcing a bad Christmas period, blaming poor trading on online competition from the likes of Amazon, what is the future for Bolton's independent entertainment stores?

Steven Meekings, manager of Bolton-based X-Records, which is in Bridge Street, said: "I would say it has been one of the poorest Christmases we have had, and I think that's a reflection of the way it is going all across the high street. But we haven't relied on high street takings for a long time, because if we had we would have gone out of business by now.

"We've always been very specialised, but we've got more specialised as the years have gone on. The more commercial a title is, the less attractive it is to us because the supermarkets can sell it so much cheaper. But we can stock the titles that they're not even interested in.

"So many record shops have gone that I think we're one of the last around here.

"We've really embraced eBay - things we can't sell in Bolton we put on eBay and some of the prices we get are eyewatering, particularly for the seven inch singles. Our X Records shop on eBay does very well, and we've also run the website and the mail order site for years."

Book stores have also been hit by the impact of online and supermarket trading.

Stella Morris, manager of the town's Sweetens book shop, which is based in Deansgate, said: "It's probably affected us as much as it has Waterstones.

"We've all been hit by online orders - there's more sites springing up all the time. It has affected us, more so than last year, but I think if you asked Waterstones they would say the same thing.

"It affects everyone, it's the way trading is and it's going to get worse because people lead such busy lives and if they can just sit at home and order something they want rather than trekking into town, then they will do that."

Although the downward trend in high street shopping is of concern to the town in general, Stella is not worried as far as the future of her store is concerned.

She said: "It doesn't worry me - it's the way things are and we'll just have to find other ways to get people into the shop and to compete.

"We can have signings and parties, which obviously you can't do online. I think we can hold our own."

Simon Fox, chief executive of HMV, which owns Waterstones, said chain stores had also been hit. He said: "Partly we think it's simply because footfall on the high street is down and a lot of what we sell is impulse driven and shopper number driven."

Richard Hunter at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers described HMV as seeming unsure which way to turn.

He said: "HMV continues to be attacked from all angles.

"The increasing encroachment of internet trading is threatening both its core music and book sales and although Waterstone's has launched its own online offering, it joins a crowded marketplace.

"Pricing pressure from the supermarkets is also exerting downward pressure."

Amazon.com reported its best holiday season, with more than four million items worldwide ordered on December 11 - a record for a single day.

IMRG, the e-retail body, said online sales over the Christmas trading period - the 10 weeks to December 24 - were expected to have soared 50 per cent to £7.5 billion.

IMRG chief executive James Roper said: "This has definitely been an online Christmas. We think 25 million people are now shopping online and the spike that we see at Christmas is huge.

"Everything combines to push people to internet shopping over the period - bad weather, bulk buying, the inconvenience of transport."