Another one bites the dust...

[Late]

Hot on the heels of HMV, Blockbusters are now reported to have called in administrators.

Both were mainstays of the British High Street in recent decades, it's a massive shame to see them go - whatever the reasons. You can blame recession, or bad management, or poor service, but at the end of the day it's thousands of (mainly young) people losing their jobs

[Dragontao]

Hot on the heels of HMV, Blockbusters are now reported to have called in administrators.

It was never the same without Bob Holness.

Both were mainstays of the British High Street in recent decades, it's a massive shame to see them go - whatever the reasons. You can blame recession, or bad management, or poor service, but at the end of the day it's thousands of (mainly young) people losing their jobs

I was in HMV today (swooping like a vulture as they were flogging a lot of stuff at 25% off - a lot of bargains to be had). Some of their staff weren't that young. Have to say that whenever I've been in Blockbusters, the staff weren't that young and they thrived on a lot of low paid part timers.

Blockbusters has basically been killed by the likes of Netflix and Lovefilm. HMV by its failure to move with the times.

The loss of Blockbusters won't hurt nearly so much as HMV because there is literally hardly anywhere in the highstreet you can browse for any kind of back catalogue music or film/TV now. Supermarkets are only interested in the latest stuff.

There are so many things that are wrong with the way HMV have been operating. Years ago they hired staff as much for their music knowledge as anything else, as a lot of record shops did. Now they hire people more based on their retail experience. From the management down that is one of the reasons they have failed to move with the times and there are so many things they could have done to compete with online retailers.

I have a feeling that HMV will be saved in some form, simply because there doesn't seem to be an alternative any more. BLockbusters is doomed.

[jman]

Blockbusters is one of my favourite shops!! 

They are good for pre-owneds and their deal of the week is usually quite good too... far better alternative than GAME in my opinion.  But it was inevitable as the move towards video streaming got stronger, blockbusters just dont have their foot in the door like LoveFilm.  But Im sure the american blockbusters got bought out, so I wouldn't say they are doomed yet.

[Late]

I used to love Blockbusters but it's been shit in recent years, in my experience.

I've had two dealings with them last year:

In June I bought four games (seven disks), second hand, from their online service. One had a broken case, five of the disks were dirty, all seven were scratched, and one wouldn't play. Appalling. To their credit they did replace Lost Odyssey for me. I sent back the box with all four disks in, got back a replacement with all four disks in - all four dirty and scratched, but at least disk four worked this time.
Definitely couldn't recommend their online second hand game service, then.

And in November I signed up for a free 30 day trial with their rental service, where you're allowed 2 disks at a time. I received 2 disks later that week, both were sent back the next day. Over 2 weeks later I received a disk (again sent back next day). A week later I cancelled my subscription. They call it unlimited rentals, but if you only get three in a month despite keeping them only a day then it's falling a long way short of the mark. I had a similar trial with Lovefilm a few years back and the turnaround with their disks was fantastic - I always had a new one less than a week after sending one back (usually just 2 or 3 days after). If Lovefilm could get it right several years ago there's no excuse for Blockbuster not being able to do so in 2012/2013.
Definitely couldn't recommend their online rental service, then.

[jman]

Well they have no purpose nowadays as a physical rental store - theres just not enough people doing that these days...blockbusters is somewhat of a stone-age dinosaur in that aspects.. I personally wouldnt use a subscription service because of the price - so I have no opinion on blockbusters nor lovefilm - but if I was making a choice, lovefilm would be the first place I would go to, mainly because I know they are bigger and I know I can get lovefilm through me telly.

However, if I want to buy preowned/rental dvds or preowned games - blockbusters is definitely one of my first choices alongside ebay.  Games wise - I only had one bad preowned disc from blockbusters in the last 10 years - Dirt - they had no more copies left when I returned it, but would of given a refund without question.  All the chaps down the local one are friendly enough - all a bunch of geeks - but quite helpful.

One of the reasons I believe blockbusters had died out is the uprise of illegal downloading - of course, according to drags, downloading keeps the industry afloat though   

Lovefilm has overcome downloaders by being intuitive with their service and also not having the physical costs of retail stores, blockbusters failed to recogonise that digital is king - and therefore has died.

[Dragontao]

One of the reasons I believe blockbusters had died out is the uprise of illegal downloading - of course, according to drags, downloading keeps the industry afloat though   

Absolute rot and I was wondering how long it would take you to blame downloading. Surprised it has taken you this long.

Blockbusters has died because they are an out of touch dinosaur. Too expensive by far. Just as well wait a few months and buy it for £3 in Asda. As I just did with John Carter, Real Steel and Zombieland.

Most downloaders wouldn't have gone to Blockbusters anyway.

[harv]

Zavvi are also going into Administration too.

Should be able to get some decent cut price stuff in their respective fire sales soon. Plenty of Wii U games I've got my eyes on both released and unreleased. Can't wait. Terrible for the people losing their jobs though, there's nothing worse than being made redundant.

Wonder who's going to be left and whether there's going to be any new players on the scene before the year is over..? Game, Gamestation, Play.com, HMV and Zavvi are all going down the loo. There's only Shopto left, isn't there..?

[jman]

One of the reasons I believe blockbusters had died out is the uprise of illegal downloading - of course, according to drags, downloading keeps the industry afloat though   

Absolute rot and I was wondering how long it would take you to blame downloading. Surprised it has taken you this long.

Blockbusters has died because they are an out of touch dinosaur. Too expensive by far. Just as well wait a few months and buy it for £3 in Asda. As I just did with John Carter, Real Steel and Zombieland.

Most downloaders wouldn't have gone to Blockbusters anyway.

Lol, how is it rot... people with no money dont rent videos.. simple as.. Blockbusters have a far bigger installed base than Lovefilm or Netflix in the UK.. so how can they fail so badly.  Its down to 3 things.

1.  The rental costs of their premises.  Its already been stated that if Blockbusters had made a profit last year - they would of voluntarily closed a lot of their underperforming stores - so store closures were inevitable.
2.  Their online business is terrible compared to competitors - they only managed to convert 35k of their 2m strong membership online - this is pathetic compared to 1m lovefilm subscribers in the uk.
3.  Downloading has affected physical rentals more than it has digital downloads - just like it has with games and music - Blockbusters were at their peak around 20 years ago.. a while before the internet was around and way before downloading had started - you can not seriously say its had no effect.

I wouldnt totally agree on the expensive argument either... I saw a rental copy of Expendables 2 for £6 in Blockbusters to purchase the other day - you try finding a physical copy of that cheaper anywhere - you wont - prehaps the rental side of blockbusters is slightly more expensive.. but dont they get new films way before Lovefilm or Netflix do?? - you want stuff first - you have to pay a bit more for it - sounds reasonable to me.  Of course illegal downloaders usually get films before they even hit Blockbusters - so maybe the price is an issue

And harvs theres always Amazon - you know the company that set-up in the UK then moved to Luxembourg so they can dodge the high UK tax rate on profits they make in the UK.

[Late]

You sure, Harv?
I've heard nothing about the Hut Group failing.
I recall they got a big cash injection a week or so back, and are planning on floating in Q3...

[ancelotti]

Supermarkets and Amazon are enjoying the benefits of these failing companies. At some time in the future the high street will just consist of:

1. Collection depots for internet orders
2. Cash for Gold shops
3. Supermarkets
4. Stores with premium products priced beyond most people, that occasionally the working class may blow their money on.
5. Pound shops
6. Charity shops
7. Coffee shops

[Dragontao]

One of the reasons I believe blockbusters had died out is the uprise of illegal downloading - of course, according to drags, downloading keeps the industry afloat though   

Absolute rot and I was wondering how long it would take you to blame downloading. Surprised it has taken you this long.

Blockbusters has died because they are an out of touch dinosaur. Too expensive by far. Just as well wait a few months and buy it for £3 in Asda. As I just did with John Carter, Real Steel and Zombieland.

Most downloaders wouldn't have gone to Blockbusters anyway.

Lol, how is it rot...

3.  Downloading has affected physical rentals more than it has digital downloads - just like it has with games and music - Blockbusters were at their peak around 20 years ago.. a while before the internet was around and way before downloading had started - you can not seriously say its had no effect.

As you said, people with no money don't rent films. They don't buy them either. Therefore there is no sale or rental lost because if they hadn't downloaded it they wouldn't have bought it or rented it.

Which comes back to the point that downloaders fall into two broad categories, those who buy more (a lot of it is to do with discovering more because of the internet age) and those who wouldn't have bought anyway. As research from notable universities such as Harvard have found, downloading actually has a negligible effect on sales.

To blame the internet so heavily is ridiculous. So many bands are now discovered and have their popularity increased by the internet that wouldn't have done without the likes of youtube, Facebook and once upon a time, My Space.

Add Sky/Sky Movies alongside Netflix and Lovefilm. Why hire it when you can wait a few months and watch it on one of those services.

Sky is a good example of where downloaders increase sales. Many people won't subscribe to Sky for a number of reasons. Some financial, or in my case because I dislike the organisation intensely. If I didn't donload many of the shows that are shown on Sky, it's likely I'd never have seen them and would never have bought the box sets.

Trying to blame one thing or another is stupid because there are multiple variables involved but the main problem many of these organisations have is greed.

[harv]

You sure, Harv?
I've heard nothing about the Hut Group failing.
I recall they got a big cash injection a week or so back, and are planning on floating in Q3...

Ah, saw a couple of weeks ago in a Zavvi email something about the 'bad news' being heard, followed a link in the email and it started to talk about administration. Guess that cash injection must have stopped the impending doom.