And now Blockbuster goes Bust

[Pearcey]

Is it not obvious? People have all the older pre-dvd films they want on dvd. That leaves only new releases, which are cheapest at the supermarket.

Game will be next.

 

[Cellarite]

Hardly surprising about Blockbuster. It's about £3.50 to hire a film that's been released in the last 6 months for 1 night. If you forget to take it back, you get charged again. We were going to hire the Pixar film Brave on the 23rd of December but it was £4 for one night. We went to asda and bought it for a tenner. They never tried to keep up with regards to film watching. They raised the white flag and concentrated their efforts on trade in video games. The problem with this was that their prices both for trading in and for buying were not as good as other places so the need to go to Blockbuster very quickly disappeared.

Yep, there is very little point in getting films from there ... Lovefilm you can pay a tenner and get 3 dvd's a month, with no fee if returning late, much better service on the web than walking around that hell hole

Not to mention the old cow in my local Blockbuster who seems to think she's doing you a favour by being paid to be there.

 

[another generation]

Is this just a UK thing? - what is happening across Europe with these sorts of businesses?

Was on a visit to Tromsø just after New Year. Tiny in comparison to a main UK city, but the biggest place we've got up here within a 2-hour flight radius without going into Russia or Finland. I've seen how things have changed over the past 8 or so years, and the centre is definitely in decline. Loads of hairdresser businesses and opticians, where once there were thriving sports shops. Everything now has to be attached to a shopping centre, and those are usually out of town. Gigantic, everything-under-the-sun electric and sports shops with more fridges and rucksacks than you could shake a stick at. Seems like, unless you own a car, your shopping is now limited to the basics still on offer in town.

Are out-of-town shopping centres still thriving in the UK, or have they turned more into entertainment complexes with cinemas, restaurants, etc?

 

[ifwecouldjust......]

Where will it all end

Comet, Jessops, HMV, Blockbuster

Argos next.......but it won't end there.

Our local council have recently sold one of the town centre car parks and morrisons have built a store on it. The other car park prices have been increased to £1.50 for the first hour


Why would I want to park my car for an hour in the town centre ......Oxfam shop, The heart foundation , Age and Cancer Research haven't really got the things I am looking for

 

[Ducado]

as someone said, mostly, these companies that are folding are dinosaurs being brought to a quicker rather than slower death by the economic whirlpool we are trapped in

The internet has a lot more to do with it

 

[MCFC1993]

This country needs a 'Best Buy' franchise, they're America's best for prices and we could do with an actual shop to rival Amazon, that way Blu-Rays, DVD's and electronics will be lowered.

 

[bryan156]

This country needs a 'Best Buy' franchise, they're America's best for prices and we could do with an actual shop to rival Amazon, that way Blu-Rays, DVD's and electronics will be lowered.

Best Buy came and went bust within a year.

 

[LoveCity]

Will there be any jobs left soon? With Britain having its doors wide open too, population is only going to go up while big businesses go down. Worrying.

 

[Skashion]

The high street's main problem is the greedy local councils who make everywhere seem impossible to park without getting penalised.

Blockbuster's problem is digitalisation and the fact we are shifting towards less reliance on Oil with services such as Lovefilm, Spotify and TCIB.

Who needs to have discs made in Korea, exported to the Western world, then sold at a premium on the shelf of HMV when it's readily available for download without the need for transportation.

They didn't move with the times. They do however have a strong brand which could be used as a streaming service to compete with Amazon of Luxembourg or Lovefilm

The death of physical media is oversold. Physical media is still 75% of the entertainment market. This is overwhelmingly true with video and games, less so with music i.e. music is just over 50% digital meaning physical media for games and video is well above 75%. However, these companies offered poor value, poor innovation and high-street overheads that were too high. They've paid the price for it.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

makes me laugh how there are so many social media campaigns to 'save hmv' and such public outcry that these firms are going bust.

they are doing so for a reason, and apart from HMV which i liked, none of the rest will be missed

This ^^^^
If all those people with their mock ''outrage'' that HMV is going bust (all leaving messages saying ''I remember I bought the Teardrop Explodes album there in 1981) actually continued to spend money in the store then they wouldn't be going bust!