[Closed] And now its Blockbusters turn

Bugger. Lovefilm, here I come...

Blockbuster is still going?

think like this, what do you need to be physically present for?

Hairdresser, brothels, clothes shops? well sometimes, petrol stations.

It isn't a long list....

Blockbuster is still going?

Indeed, and profitable, apparently.

Blockbuster, not Blockbusters.

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Blockbuster, not Blockbusters.

same colour scheme so same thing. I reckon.

I'm astonished Blockbuster have lasted this long. I remember dealing with them over 15 years ago as a company I worked at the time supplied them. They seemed to be struggling then and have closed loads of branches locally over the past few years.

When so many films can be bought cheaply in the supermarkets and the online film rental market is growing, a bricks and mortar rental business is always going to struggle. Almost all the independent film rental shops closed years ago.

I assumed they'd gone bust ages ago, my local one closed down months ago!

Assumed they'd already gone....

Almost all the independent film rental shops closed years ago.

Many squashed by Blockbuster overtaking the market.

I have a P (45) please Bob!

Bugger. Lovefilm, here I come...

Trouble with Lovefilm is that there are many many titles that they do not stock like anything from UNIVERSAL studios .

Family guy had it right. I'm amazed Blockbuster were still going, awful company to deal with.

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Physical media is dead/dying.

If you can buy a digital copy over the internet, it's cheerio to that business on the high street.

Room for an eighth charity shop in Leatherhead, then...

... and pretty soon, a ninth...

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/01/16/jd-wetherspoon-sees-margins-squeezed_n_2484753.html

More likely: French Connection, Thorntons and poss Dixons.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21043359

i thought Dixons closed it's shops ages ago?

Dixons still exists at Airports (only place I see them).

Ah right, come to think I may have seen them there too. Also Dixons own Currys I thought Currys bought Dixons out.

How long for WH Smiths? Magazines, books, cards, DVDs, stationary.. all easy to get online.

Trouble with Lovefilm is that there are many many titles that they do not stock like anything from UNIVERSAL studios .

That's just not true; I've watched Schindler's List, Inglorious Basterds and Scott Pilgrim vs the World in the last couple of months.
You can also watch Jaws, ET, Jurassic Park etc.
Lovefilm isn't much good for new releases though.

I think Dixons Retail own PC World? Still see plenty of those shops. I wouldn't miss it though. I won't miss Blockbuster either.

Yeah but sometimes you don't want to buy and keep a DVD. The Woman In Black, for example. Watch it once, decide it was carp, be glad you can return it.

Netflix, for example, is no good for me as I don't have a games console and the various computers in the house are not in the same room as the TV.
So that leaves me with Lovefilm - complete with postal delay - or Sky Box Office. Fine if it's a current film, stuffed if not

Ah right, come to think I may have seen them there too. Also Dixons own Currys I thought Currys bought Dixons out.

Dixons, Currys and PC World are all brands under the Dixons Retail group (used to be DSG, i.e Dixons Stores Group). The Dixons name is now used for airports stores and online only, after their stores were rebranded Currys.

Thorntons must be on the way out surely? I mean, what is the point of them? When I was a lad, they were the "posh" choccies you bought if you wanted to impress someone, the specialist alternative to Milk Tray, All Gold etc.

Now if you bought someone a box of Thorntons they'd assume you forgot their birthday and had had to stop at a petrol station to get something. Weird business strategy that, trying to be a premium brand and selling in supermarkets and petrol stations. That would be like a premium bike brand selling their stuff through Halfords, very silly.

The Dixons name is now used for airports stores and online only, after their stores were rebranded Currys.

Explains why I only see them at Airports then!

Now if you bought someone a box of Thorntons they'd assume you forgot their birthday and had had to stop at a petrol station to get something.

+1, I associate Thorntons with value chocolate, not up-market stuff.

Currys / PC world are both brands of DSG Dixons Store Group. Dixon was the online shop but that's shut down as Currys online was the same thing. For some reason Dixons is still the name for travel retail. I think Pixmania are part of DSG too.
Anyway I think they are fine for now after picking up Comet customers.

Thortons retail days are numbered - they make far more money selling chocolate to supermarkets nowadays.

Mr Woppit - Member

... and pretty soon, a ninth...

Wopster - If Weatherspoons goes bust, I'll do a tour of the country, streaking through every town centre individually.

They sell cheap booze to poor people, to help them blot out the tragic reality of their lives. Given the present future for the economy under this shower, if that isn't the biggest growth industry over the next couple of years, I don't know what is!

They sell cheap booze to poor people, to help them blot out the tragic reality of their lives.

A-ha. That'll be the nine o'clock shift I see sitting outside, fags and pints a-go-go every Saturday morning... 😯

Buy a ROKU box john and watch Netflix along with lots of others things of your choice on your TV such as BBC iplayer.

Now if you bought someone a box of Thorntons they'd assume you forgot their birthday and had had to stop at a petrol station to get something. Weird business strategy that, trying to be a premium brand and selling in supermarkets and petrol stations.

Blockbuster, not Blockbusters.
same colour scheme so same thing. I reckon.

not looking good for chain reaction cycles then is it? 🙄

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Mr Woppit - I love the way they advertise Weatherspoons breakfasts outside their upmarket establishments. Stressing the time they're available from.

As if anyone going in there at that time is going to be eating 😆

+1, I associate Thorntons with value chocolate, not up-market stuff.

But you'd still asume it was better than milk tray, all gold etc, which are better than quality street, roses, etc.

Simple economics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth-share_matrix

You create a 'star' (or 'problem child') and hope it migrates towards being a cash cow. Whether you're throntons selling chocolates, Pinarello selling bikes, or apple selling ipods, you'll always have some products which sustain the business (petrol station chocs, alloy bikes, ipods), some new products (dogma, iPad) which require lots of investment, some problem children (stuff you throw money at but don't achieve market share, like apple TV, thorntons shops), and some dogs (blockbuster, HMV).

I'm not surprised.

They just don't compete well with online in my experience.
We rent from a local Blockbuster and they have had offers that encourage you to get one or two more films - the price for 4 films ended up less than 2 films via the apple TV so we used them a lot.

Then for some bizzare reason they stopped it and hence we stopped renting - I told the staff and they rolled their eyes.

It's a real shame as I quite like the physical browsing but when it ends up being the same or more expensive than online with fines for late return why would you rent from them.

The Post Office - once this generation of pensioners is gone, I can't see it lasting on the high street. Pain in the *ing arse going in there.

Same for Marks & Spencer. I went in for the first time in years to buy some socks. Their stock of clothing in the trafford centre store appeared not to have changed in all those years. I think they must just dust it every few days. I imagined everything was free and I could just take what I wanted....still nothing.

PC world - overpriced computing equipment filled with * preinstalled software. Oh yes please.

GAP - just wear anything from GAP you have in the wardrobe at home and it will be exactly the same as their current stock.

Its truly amazing HMV lasted so long as it was THE place to go to if you wanted to pay 30% more for stuff readily available from other shops and online.

Paid for News Papers printed the previous day??? Awesome. I mean why just look at the computer/phone when you can walk to the shop, pay money for something, get dirty hands reading it and then have a pile of paper to get rid of.

I'm sorry - but £6 for a bike magazine???? Surely only for those new to the sport who need advice.

Obviously the economy has played a part in all these businesses going under but i think there is broader issue.

Firstly i know there is poverty in this country.

....but, generally standards are good, people have TVs, muic, smartphones, clothes, cars etc etc....how much more does a person(s) need?

Have we reached saturation point whereby the only new consumers will be kids reaching teenage and then adult years?....and seeing as the birth rate isnt great then this isnt exactly good news for vendors.

Have we as a society (at last) become satisfied with the creature comforts we have and become largely switched off to the hype machine of continued upgrading, consuming etc?

My own outgoings (bills excluded) these days are for food and music....thats it.

I have the mountain bike i want and wont be changing any time soon....i have the motorbike i want and thats been the same for 3 years now....car is the same, its perfectly reliable and been mine for 3 years, havent moved house in a decade, havent bought a fridge/washing machine/kettle/microwave etc for a a few years now, change my phones on 2 yearly upgrade cycles and have put together a 'classic' wardbrobe of clothes over the years that dont age with trends or fashion and therefore dont need replacing all that often....i must be a nightmare for the high street, i cant think of anything worse than going shopping on a saturday morning just for the sake of it!

Most of my friends seem to be the same now, we're all early 30s, the only regular expense through choice seems to be eating out.

PC world - overpriced computing equipment filled with **** preinstalled software. Oh yes please.

PC World aren't all bad. If you want to buy a computer from a shop - and many people do - it's really your only choice. Most of the independent stores (certainly round here anyway) seem more interested in mobile phone unlocking, overseas calling cards and cheap flight deals to the Indian subcontinent than they do in selling computers.

They also do servicing, and again, for your average Joe the only viable options for getting a computer sorted are taking it to PCW or finding a mate to do it for free. I kind of expected that by now we'd see PC Technician in the yellow pages with plumbers and plasterers as another household tradesman, but it doesn't seem to have happened.

Where PCW do fall down, from a consumer point of view, is accessory and component pricing. It feels like they set a price on something and that's it, irrespective of market value. RAM, for example, was ludicrously priced last time I looked (which admittedly was a good while ago). I doubt this is accidental; it's probably what keeps the stores in business.

Illegal downloading is killing the distribution networks, not the creativity. 😉

Blockbuster is still going?

The Cinema is getting more and more expensive - Have only seen Goldeneye and Bourne in the past 3yrs.

Illegal downloading is killing the distribution networks, not the creativity

Piracy seems to be in steady decline over the last few years, judging by torrent numbers.

Blockbuster is on attack from several fronts as identified above.

What amazes me about them - and also HMV - is that they didn't embrace downloads/streaming at an early stage. Sure, it would have been expensive to invest in the technology and direct relationships with the studios and record labels, but so is running at a loss and going bust.

As it is, our lives can pretty much be summed up in three words:

Apple
Amazon
Tesco

Papa_Lazarou +1. Absolutely.

I don't think society has become satisfied with what they have, it's just that the high street is no longer the only place to get these things. I do think you grow out of traditional shopping though. I used to love browsing record shops looking for the next big thing, but I have neither the time nor inclination to do it nowadays. Besides, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon etc have meant I get personalised recommendations so I don't need to go into a shop any more.

I can't see Wetherspoon going under although there are very few of them I'd go into on a Friday or Saturday night as they generally seem to be full of idiots.

Having said that there are a couple of decent ones - if there are a few of us out it's almost a race to get the round in at Wetherspoons as it will be guaranteed to be the cheapest of the night by miles. They could easily put the price up a bit and still do OK. They charge less than half the price of other nearby pubs for some really good real ales.

[quoteAs it is, our lives can pretty much be summed up in three words:

Apple
Amazon
Tesco

Sad but very true..

Physical media is dead/dying.

If you can buy a digital copy over the internet, it's cheerio to that business on the high street.

Downloading 25GB of a full Blu-Ray is still a bit of an ask though!

Apple
Amazon
Tesco.

None of the above.
Samsung
Alot of indies
Sainsburys

Most Bluray films are only 7Gb though, can download in a couple of hours as a torrent.

I'm amazed it's taken this long - they didn't even adapt to pay-per-view or the movies-by-post model, let alone the internet. "Hi blockbuster, it's the 90s on the phone.... they want their business model back"

A failure to evolve, pure and simple.

Travel agents have been hanging on for longer than I thought. Here's hoping that estate agents are soon to be a thing of the past.

my mate summed it up quite well i thought.

"oh no where will i rent my movies on the highstreet now? said no one - ever "

price aside apple tv does a sterling job of letting you have reasonably modern movies on a whim.

lovefilm does a good job of letting you have new movies cheaply via post - if you use it reguarly

do i have distant memories of blockbuster trying to start up one of those postal DVD services and selling it to someone else or is that complete fiction

Lovefilm here. Movies for me and Mrs Labsey and games for me. Problem I found with games is that it's rare I can complete them in 3 days. At least with Lovefilm you can keep them as long as you want.

Surprised Blockbuster lasted this long.

How long for WH Smiths? Magazines, books, cards, DVDs, stationary.. all easy to get online.

Or in Tesco's.

Good example. Over Christmas I had the misfortune to go 'into town.' The car park was pay and display, I had to walk to shops in the rain and when I went into WH Smiths it was untidy, cramped and cluttered. The book I wanted to buy was £18! Ignored that but picked up a cycling magazine, only to be offered by a mardy till person a brick of a chocolate bar for £1.

Still needed the book so drove down the road into the huge (free) tesco car park, went into store and picked up the book for £10. Why would I ever choose to go back to WH Smiths?

Incidently, I noticed the WH Smith street vendor in Ripper Street was pretty mardy as well. Seems their customer services training hasn't moved on.

+1 Papa Lazarou

And Thorntons really remind me of Rover, trying to be a premium brand but actually a bit crap. And I know all too well how that ended.

Reading through this thread, the only thing I use the High St for these days(Co-Op aside) is the Post Office, and not very often.

All we're seeing is outdated business models falling. It's pig-headedness by the management. Everyone could see where it was going but they carried on. We've all worked for companies with the attitude "we do it this way" and they're rarely successful. Things change. Evolve or become extinct.

Downloading 25GB of a full Blu-Ray is still a bit of an ask though!

You missed the "if" in my post? And given time, 25Gb downloads will become viable. Just not yet.

Currently "HD" films on download services are around 3 or 4Gb.

Things change. Evolve or become extinct.

The appropriate term for a push bike forum would be "Innovate or die"

People seem to forget human nature. We like 'having and owning films'. Storing them all on a hard drive (like treasured photos)- isn't the same. What happens when you upgrade/change your device?

Will the majority of people be happy with cloud-based storage? There will always be a place for music/films on the high st IMO.

People seem to forget human nature. We like 'having and owning films'.

Personally I'm the other way round - I hate the waste of space taken up by DVDs, CDs and VHS etc. I've given all mine away and just have ripped copies of everything now.

Although I so still have all my LPs, there's something about them that's warm and pleasant unlike horrible cheap plastic DVD cases.

People seem to forget human nature. We like 'having and owning films'.

I've got an absolute mountain of CD's and DVD's. They're all in the loft, having been put on a hard drive. In their physical form, they might as well be in the bin. They just take up space

Its all downloads from now on. And I really never thought I'd say that

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I use Blockbuster all the time as I live away from home when at work and don't have the bandwidth available in my accommodation. The one in Fareham always seems to have people in it and the nice lady at the counter (they always seem pretty cheery) said they had been assured that their jobs were safe.
Admit this is probably a distinct situation and that downloads will inevitably take over.

People seem to forget human nature. We like 'having and owning films'

No, not really.

Power tools on the other hand.

I used to like owning films, records and CDs but I'm now more than happy with Spotify, Netflix, iTunes etc. "Owning" a BluRay disc will probably go the way of vinyl; only of interest to a small percentage who appreciate the difference in quality and therefore prices will rocket.

yes piemonster, tools have functional purpose. i like tools for all sorts. as long as i have a job for em.

media - as long as i can watch it i dont care how i have it ... i have 3TB of movies i take with me working abroad.

Illegal downloading is killing the distribution networks, not the creativity.

Unfortunately those distribution networks were frequently paying for the creativity.

They have already said that blockbusters as a core business is still profitable, so the business model of us renting games/dvds still works, not just a 90's thing!

The problem is when they separated from Gamestation they tried to keep doing trade-ins but they expanded to dvd's etc and tbh who really wants to buy someone else dvd's?? That was there failure and they have said if a buyer comes along they could still be saved.

Was Blockbuster a franchise?

PC World aren't all bad. If you want to buy a computer from a shop - and many people do - it's really your only choice. Most of the independent stores (certainly round here anyway) seem more interested in mobile phone unlocking, overseas calling cards and cheap flight deals to the Indian subcontinent than they do in selling computers.

They have already said that blockbusters as a core business is still profitable

They would say that though, wouldn't they? As they're after a buyer. I can stand here and say that I'm the messiah. In fact, I frequently do. It doesn't make it true though. Lets be honest.. there's only one direction of travel for a business of that nature. Same with HMV

People seem to forget human nature. We like 'having and owning films'. Storing them all on a hard drive (like treasured photos)- isn't the same. What happens when you upgrade/change your device?

Will the majority of people be happy with cloud-based storage? There will always be a place for music/films on the high st IMO.

whats changing is that physical media could become rare - books go out of print, albums get deleted or even if they don't, shops stop stocking them. So the hoard instinct comes from having had to hunt stuff down to get it and look after it incase it ceases to be available. If you are old enough to have needed to do that then that hoarding instinct might persist. Digital media seems infinitely available - theres no need to hoard stuff because once its available online there seems no likelihood it will ever become unavailable. So theres no real need to 'store' your music or your films either on your PC or in some distant cloud, all you'd really need is a licence to consume it any time you like.

Even the idea of hoarding stuff on a hard drive is a bit old fashioned now.

Even the idea of hoarding stuff on a hard drive is a bit old fashioned now.

Agreed. I used to back up my iTunes collection but now I use Spotify, I don't need any of the files on my machine.

"Even the idea of hoarding stuff on a hard drive is a bit old fashioned now. "

unless you travel regular to places without internetz (you know they still exist)

unless you travel regular to places without internetz (you know they still exist)

People in Norfolk can't use keyboards / touch pads - the webbing gets in the way....