http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21047652

Another one bites the dust? So far, no surprises. What does sell on the high street now? Clothes? Food? erm, running out of ideas now…

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.

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.

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.

I was having this exact conversation over Christmas. Hotel Chocolat is where it’s at as far as High St chocolatiers goes now. I went into the Thornton’s shop over Christmas, it looked very downmarket and I think I’d prefer a box of Milk Tray or even Quality Street to be honest. Not quite sure when they went downhill, probably as you say when you started being able to buy them in petrol stations and woolworths!

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

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

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.