Blockbuster latest chain to go into administration (From News Shopper)

End of the world.

Once Bob died the other year the writing was on the wall.


Staggering it lasted out for so long. They have been slipping down since 2010. They do have some rather prominent sites.
That's a lot more high st space to be taken up by charity shops and pound shops. Too early for a short Christmas lease to someone selling poisonous decorations and illegal fairy lights though.


My mate's got an unpaid fine with Blockbuster at the moment, he'll be quite pleased.

WH Smiths next????

I think they can blame Love Film and Netflix for this.

Erith chap wrote:
I think they can blame Love Film and Netflix for this.

I think not.

Maybe if BB moved with the times this would not of happened.

The only people to blame are management.

the wall wrote:
Once Bob died the other year the writing was on the wall.


Staggering it lasted out for so long. They have been slipping down since 2010. They do have some rather prominent sites.
That's a lot more high st space to be taken up by charity shops and pound shops. Too early for a short Christmas lease to someone selling poisonous decorations and illegal fairy lights though.


My mate's got an unpaid fine with Blockbuster at the moment, he'll be quite pleased.

WH Smiths next????

WH Smiths must surely be struggling and I think Robert Dyas might also be in trouble.

They both fall under the category of "can I buy what they sell somewhere else but cheaper?"

Ironically, Dartford High Street has been in so much decline over the years that we've hardly any of the big chains left - so all these recent chains closing won't actually make a difference and we could actually end up with more shops than the "nicer" high streets.

Maybe Dartford Borough Council foresaw this happening and this has been all part of their masterplan...!

Dartbored wrote:

the wall wrote: Once Bob died the other year the writing was on the wall. Staggering it lasted out for so long. They have been slipping down since 2010. They do have some rather prominent sites. That's a lot more high st space to be taken up by charity shops and pound shops. Too early for a short Christmas lease to someone selling poisonous decorations and illegal fairy lights though. My mate's got an unpaid fine with Blockbuster at the moment, he'll be quite pleased. WH Smiths next????

WH Smiths must surely be struggling and I think Robert Dyas might also be in trouble. They both fall under the category of "can I buy what they sell somewhere else but cheaper?" Ironically, Dartford High Street has been in so much decline over the years that we've hardly any of the big chains left - so all these recent chains closing won't actually make a difference and we could actually end up with more shops than the "nicer" high streets. Maybe Dartford Borough Council foresaw this happening and this has been all part of their masterplan...!

Agreed about WH Smiths. What about Boots? Another big company but I'm not sure there's much they sell that can't be bought cheaper.

The only shops that will be left on the high street in a couple of years will be hair dressers, nail shops and probably some clothes shops as a lot of people still like trying things on. Everything can be bought cheaper online.

In 2011/12 boots delivered a double digit growth in trading profit.

the wall wrote:
In 2011/12 boots delivered a double digit growth in trading profit.

I know they're doing ok at the moment, but I don't really see what their usp is, and wonder if they'll go the same way.

It's only capitalism in motion. Love it or leave. Every business is there to make money, if and when it don't it closes.
Times change and with it peoples habits.

Erith chap wrote:
I think they can blame Love Film and Netflix for this.

I would add CEX to that list.

FTR, in my experience Blockbuster staff tended to be from ethnic minorities, but were always pleasant & spoke in a form of English that I could understand. CEX staff IME tend to be silly kids with megatwonk hairstyles talking in an incomprehensible street slang that I cannot understand & giving the impression that their customers are a nuisance.

Dot com ( .com ), get used to it. It's going to be how we buy most things within 5 -10 years. If not sonner.

Ronny.

Of course I meant sooner.

To much Chardonnay me thinks.

Ron x

As already mentioned, I think it was only a matter of time, largely to them not moving with the times etc.

I think Superdrug will go before boots.

A lot of the high streets in the area are awful!!

Funny you should mention CEX Broomboy, I went into one for the 1st time the other day and I liked the place. It had the feel of HMV, helpful staff but with products that were more ebay prices than HMV prices. Maybe I was just lucky :-)

Whilst many more chains will shut down, I don’t think physical shopping is quite as doomed as everyone makes out. People will always like to browse and make impulsive purchases and there will always be things you need to buy that are needed the same day – if my kid has had a good school report then we may go grab some lunch and then he can look through some toys before picking his reward – that just doesn’t work with online shopping.

Most of the big chains have been guilty of sleepwalking through the online/budget revolution and simply haven’t adapted quick enough. People are more canny with their money these days and expect a better service…was anyone surprised that Comet – with their (generally) thick staff and overinflated prices – went to the wall?

People are still flocking to Bluewater as customers enjoy the whole shopping & restaurant experience (along with free parking) – I’m clearly in a small minority because as much as the shops are nice I find eating at Bluewater a strangely detached and soulless experience. I’ve never had a meal there and walked away thinking I’d had a lovely night..it’s always just been “ok”. Give me a proper restaurant, on a high street, anytime.

Blockbusters? I’ll have a P45 please Bob.

I make you about right Darty. The shopping future does seem to be large Malls ( Bluewater type ) and big box superstores out of town centres.

Just how many restaurants and 'pund' stores can the old high streets sustain though. Time will tell.

The High Street has been hit hard by the "digital age"...Argos (part of the Home Retail Group) are getting a digital makeover, this means that the heavy in-store catalogues will be a thing of the past. They will be replaced by digital ones. Argos plan to close some 75 stores in the near future and will be concentrating mostly on improving online shopping. If they are successful, I can see more and more of their outlets closing down too!!

goldenbroomboy wrote:

Erith chap wrote: I think they can blame Love Film and Netflix for this.

I would add CEX to that list. FTR, in my experience Blockbuster staff tended to be from ethnic minorities, but were always pleasant & spoke in a form of English that I could understand. CEX staff IME tend to be silly kids with megatwonk hairstyles talking in an incomprehensible street slang that I cannot understand & giving the impression that their customers are a nuisance.

Yeah, CEX staff are usually young, 'out there' lads, but they know their stuff, and when you can buy a DVD for 3 quid at CEX rather than rent it for a night for 4 quid at Blockbusters, you might end up with quite a large DVD collection.

Dartbored wrote:
Funny you should mention CEX Broomboy, I went into one for the 1st time the other day and I liked the place. It had the feel of HMV, helpful staff but with products that were more ebay prices than HMV prices. Maybe I was just lucky :-) Whilst many more chains will shut down, I don’t think physical shopping is quite as doomed as everyone makes out. People will always like to browse and make impulsive purchases and there will always be things you need to buy that are needed the same day – if my kid has had a good school report then we may go grab some lunch and then he can look through some toys before picking his reward – that just doesn’t work with online shopping. Most of the big chains have been guilty of sleepwalking through the online/budget revolution and simply haven’t adapted quick enough. People are more canny with their money these days and expect a better service…was anyone surprised that Comet – with their (generally) thick staff and overinflated prices – went to the wall? People are still flocking to Bluewater as customers enjoy the whole shopping & restaurant experience (along with free parking) – I’m clearly in a small minority because as much as the shops are nice I find eating at Bluewater a strangely detached and soulless experience. I’ve never had a meal there and walked away thinking I’d had a lovely night..it’s always just been “ok”. Give me a proper restaurant, on a high street, anytime. Blockbusters? I’ll have a P45 please Bob.

Hopefully your local store is the rule, & mine is the exception!

Possibly your local store employs people who actually want the job, whilst mine employs students earning beer money? Digressing slightly, whilst building managers tend to prefer Joanna Lumley soundalikes who are studying for degrees as FOH receptionists, IME these posh girls make poor receptionists since they have no interest in the job & prefer to jaw jaw. Better receptionists tend to be working class girls with a background in service industries.

goldenbroomboy wrote:

Dartbored wrote:
Funny you should mention CEX Broomboy, I went into one for the 1st time the other day and I liked the place. It had the feel of HMV, helpful staff but with products that were more ebay prices than HMV prices. Maybe I was just lucky :-) Whilst many more chains will shut down, I don’t think physical shopping is quite as doomed as everyone makes out. People will always like to browse and make impulsive purchases and there will always be things you need to buy that are needed the same day – if my kid has had a good school report then we may go grab some lunch and then he can look through some toys before picking his reward – that just doesn’t work with online shopping. Most of the big chains have been guilty of sleepwalking through the online/budget revolution and simply haven’t adapted quick enough. People are more canny with their money these days and expect a better service…was anyone surprised that Comet – with their (generally) thick staff and overinflated prices – went to the wall? People are still flocking to Bluewater as customers enjoy the whole shopping & restaurant experience (along with free parking) – I’m clearly in a small minority because as much as the shops are nice I find eating at Bluewater a strangely detached and soulless experience. I’ve never had a meal there and walked away thinking I’d had a lovely night..it’s always just been “ok”. Give me a proper restaurant, on a high street, anytime. Blockbusters? I’ll have a P45 please Bob.

Hopefully your local store is the rule, & mine is the exception!

Possibly your local store employs people who actually want the job, whilst mine employs students earning beer money? Digressing slightly, whilst building managers tend to prefer Joanna Lumley soundalikes who are studying for degrees as FOH receptionists, IME these posh girls make poor receptionists since they have no interest in the job & prefer to jaw jaw. Better receptionists tend to be working class girls with a background in service industries.

I'd like to think that CEX staff are rather hit or miss. I actually work in a CEX myself (and no surprises, I'm one of those 'out there' looking university students), but I love my job and I can assure you none of my wages are used as 'beer money'. I'd like to think I'm as polite and insightful as I can be, but unfortunately I can't really say the same for some of the other staff. I've had some ridiculous emails and stock from other stores - but I won't go into that. Sorry that you have had a partciularly bad experience. We're not all that bad! :)

As for the original content of this article - I agree that the blame lays heavily on online retail. Why go out shopping and fight a crowd when you can sit at home and buy all your shopping online (on a handheld device, even), for a cheaper price (a majority of the time), then have it delivered to your door for free or next to nothing? Then what do people do when they're done with it? They sell it to whoever can pricematch a trade-in price the best, or sell privately. This is exactly why these companies are going under.