Blockbuster in administration

The_White_Horse

it is what it is. all these closures, what can you do? nothing. i'm sure people were sad when the quill shops closed and the carbolic smoke ball retailers and larder makers and whatever else they had years ago.
think of all the extra charity shops we can look forward to.

ruggedtoast

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Blockbuster were always terrible; expensive and stocked nothing except 50 copies of the latest crappy Hollywood releases.

I miss the ye olden dayes independent video shops that had loads of random old films that you'd never find anywhere else. When I was at university (late 90s) the local shop was staffed by a man who trustingly wrote your name in a book and allowed you to rent a tape for 99p.

You mean the ones where you went in on a Friday with high hopes of watching Jurassic Park that evening, but despite it being out for two months they either still didn't have it or the one copy they did have was already rented by someone who had slept overnight on the doorstep? So you ended up having to rent The Piano with Invasion USA on a 50p deal. Those shops?

Blockbuster was a godsend.

Mallotum_X

The local one to me in a a small local shopping area has looked a mess for years, the signage has been broken and in places missing since at least 2006. Never actually used it. For older films we tend to buy them in one of the many second hand dvd shops that have turned up, and only then when we happen to be passing.

Probably havent rented a film since the 90's and the days of VHS at uni.

The BBC article suggests the core business is profitable, and a smaller successor firm may well come from the ashes. Maybe with more emphasis on the online stuff. Good for those that keep their jobs and at least its not all the shops closing. I wonder if this is more of a prepack deal.

jules888

Shop near me in Yarm shut down years ago.Hope keep internet site as have bought some good cheap ex rental discs.

YoungBusinessman

Don't think they will be missed at all....although a family member has just been taken on there as a manager only last week....!!!!!!?!

Wicked_witch

My local one was refurbished just a few months ago! I use it quite regularly, but have noticed it getting more and more empty each year. They have had some good deals on occasion, 4 dvds for £10 over 4 nights isn't bad at all, but renting just one or two is a bit of a rip off. They've also had some really bad deals, I remember one that saved you a massive 15p if you rented a second film on a weekend. I think the problem is that distributors charge them so much per dvd that they can't compete on rental prices. So presumably those companies will be regretting their greed now as well!

The staff at mine are great, I'll be sorry if they do lose their jobs.

railbuff

The_White_Horse wrote: »

i genuinely thought they went under years ago.

they did in 2011 in the US

Blockbuster went bankrupt in the US in 2011, but was rescued by US pay-TV provider Dish Network in a $320m (£200m) deal, which saved hundreds of US stores from closing. The UK arm is also owned by Dish Network and run separately.

Greenst

I agree what about us that live in rural areas that have completely cfr*p broadband speeds? I have an internet TV but just trying to watch iPlayer is useless, complete waste of time, it takes ages for the programme to load a`nd when it does it just keeps buffering every few minutes, very frustrating. God knows how long a film would take!!

Suppose I'll have to do the DVD postal thing for now but that's no good on a rainy cold day when the kids are bored and we could just pop to Blockbusters for a mooch round and pick up a few titles.

But I feel very very sorry for all the people that will be losing their jobs, as already said above many are young people just starting off in the world of work, we had a couple of great guys in the local Blockbuster, great at recommending the latest movies and hinting if they were rubbish and I'd say normally their opinion was right, then again there's so many on-line review sites that I suppose even this human contact isn't needed now.

We were talking about this at work earlier, soon no one will need to leave home as we will all be renting our movies, having food delivered, as we've got cheap beer from our supermarket delivery no need to go to the pub, no need to pop to the local shop for a paper as they are all on line now, no need for stamps and a post office as we can just email correspondence, no need to talk to another human being face to face as we have facebook and twitter, the list goes on and on. Then again we're all posting on here!!
Very sad.

railbuff

Wicked_witch wrote: »

I think the problem is that distributors charge them so much

Yes this is a major part of it.

Ever wondered why their are fewer independant cinemas and more multiplexes that are owned by film distribution companies.

I remember several years ago i worked in a local cinema at the time Ghost and Teenage Ninja Turtles were first released.
Distributors took a percentage of box office takings and when a new film was released an independant had to pay sometimes 95% of box office takings if they got a first run film, so it was very rare we got first run films

ruggedtoast

I used to use Blockbuster as well as Lovefilm but when we had to cutback it was Blockbuster that went.