Blockbuster - Another High St store in administration

[Eric Mc]

Damn - they were a handy short-cut through Princes Mead shopping centre to the carpark here in Farnborough.

[JonRB]

BoRED S2upid said:

The cost of post would kill that dead they are bulky your not going to cover the cost of posting nappies and formula

Surely people buy nappies and formula at supermarkets along with the rest of their shopping?

However, I agree that a lot of first-time parents go into a buying frenzy, and Mothercare is their one-stop shop for it.

[JonRB]

Eric Mc said:

Damn - they were a handy short-cut through Princes Mead shopping centre to the carpark here in Farnborough.

I never knew that! Mind you, I actively avoid Farnborough for shopping. Closest I get to Princes Mead these days is B&Q and Maplin

[mrmr96]

BoRED S2upid said:

Newc said:

The company itself is probably ok, but I think the sector is an absolute gift for a properly organised online retailer. "Hey - new mums! Do you want to spend what little time you have spare in the day slogging into town and traipsing round the shops while carrying a newborn, and then have to get all that bulky stuff back home, or shall we just deliver it to you tomorrow morning ?" And it's high margin stuff for the most part.

The cost of post would kill that dead they are bulky your not going to cover the cost of posting nappies and formula

I don't know, look at the other stuff you can buy online. Plenty of people buying health food online. Ok, probably not nappies and the like, you'd need to own your own distribution system (like Ocado) to be delivering that kind of bulk profitably, OR you need to partner with someone who already is doing this.

But for things like sterilisers, toys and games, clothes, etc the price/bulk ratio means that delivery on them will be worthwhile. Another handy thing for 'stay at home' parents is that whilst they are at home caring for the child they are able to accept deliveries during the day, which is an advantage over people who are in the office. (I.e. this group, new parents, has a good ability to receive deliveries conveniently.)

[Wacky Racer]

Haggleburyfinius said:

This is just speculation but I have no idea how Staples stays open.

It's not that what they offer isn't useful...it is...I just find it hard to believe that they sell enough pens to justify the size of the stores or the numbers of staff.

http://www.retail-week.com/property/online-sales-s...

[Mr E]

BoRED S2upid said:

The cost of post would kill that dead they are bulky your not going to cover the cost of posting nappies and formula

Our nappies are delivered for significantly less than I can buy them in the supermarket.

[kit80]

This is so depressing seeing all these massive chains go under but I don’t use these places anymore because of much better online deals, but at the same time I don’t want empty shops and UK job losses

[BoRED S2upid]

Mr E said:

BoRED S2upid said:

The cost of post would kill that dead they are bulky your not going to cover the cost of posting nappies and formula

Our nappies are delivered for significantly less than I can buy them in the supermarket.

The mark up on nappies must be massive then which is probably why mothercare are profitable 200pc profit margins.

[Haggleburyfinius]

Wacky Racer said:

Haggleburyfinius said:

This is just speculation but I have no idea how Staples stays open.

It's not that what they offer isn't useful...it is...I just find it hard to believe that they sell enough pens to justify the size of the stores or the numbers of staff.

http://www.retail-week.com/property/online-sales-s...

Well that's not a good sign.

Their sites will prove hard to re-let I suspect!

[Otispunkmeyer]

Wow gutted.

I use blockbuster a lot. For the price of an over priced and sub-quality movie download rental, I can drive to blockbuster and rent the Blu-Ray and have infinitely better picture and sound.

LoveFilm, NetFlix and SkyGo... all of them have absolutely naff video quality. Streaming and download in full prior to watching. Both are st. They're even worse than videos you might find on a certain bay full of pirate types. I rented Total Recall from Sky GO. 1.2 Gig it was and it was worse than a 700 MB DVD rip. In short there should still be space for a B&M rental store because the online versions don't supply the same quality or if they do, they're not as spontaneous an option (ie order the DVD and wait rather than just deciding on the spot that you want to watch a movie and go to blockbuster)

Very sad to see them go.

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Wednesday 16th January 16:57

[mrmr96]

Otispunkmeyer said:

Wow gutted.

I use blockbuster a lot. For the price of an over priced and sub-quality movie download rental, I can drive to blockbuster and rent the Blu-Ray and have infinitely better picture and sound.

LoveFilm, NetFlix and SkyGo... all of them have absolutely naff video quality. Streaming and download in full prior to watching. Both are st. They're even worse than videos you might find on a certain bay full of pirate types. I rented Total Recall from Sky GO. 1.2 Gig it was and it was worse than a 700 MB DVD rip.

Very sad to see them go.

I bet the Vinyl and Audio CD guys were saying the same things when .mp3 downloads started killing physical sales. The digital files had poorer quality, but the masses didn't seem to care.

[speedchick]

Our Staples is closing (or has closed since last week), not many bargains to be had!

We have a Rymans, and that is closing, mainly because of the 're-development' of the town, the people behind this 're-development' want the store they are in, they offered Rymans another store, but it was too big for what Rymans wanted or needed, as a result they are shutting the current store and not relocating.

This damn 'revelopment' of the town is a ballache, it's been going on now for about 18 years, the original plans got shelved, now they are working on mk2, and it's slow progress, not helped by the amount of shops closing, and the ones they want not wanting to come to Burnley.

[Otispunkmeyer]

mrmr96 said:

Otispunkmeyer said:

Wow gutted.

I use blockbuster a lot. For the price of an over priced and sub-quality movie download rental, I can drive to blockbuster and rent the Blu-Ray and have infinitely better picture and sound.

LoveFilm, NetFlix and SkyGo... all of them have absolutely naff video quality. Streaming and download in full prior to watching. Both are st. They're even worse than videos you might find on a certain bay full of pirate types. I rented Total Recall from Sky GO. 1.2 Gig it was and it was worse than a 700 MB DVD rip.

Very sad to see them go.

I bet the Vinyl and Audio CD guys were saying the same things when .mp3 downloads started killing physical sales. The digital files had poorer quality, but the masses didn't seem to care.

I like Vinyl and I'm not old enough to have grown up with it either. But having listened to records pressed on vinyl I know i prefer them to digital versions. Oh well. A good turn table also makes a lovely focal point for a room. Better than a gawdy japanese HiFi.

[Mr E]

Otispunkmeyer said:

I can drive to blockbuster and rent the Blu-Ray and have infinitely better picture and sound.

LoveFilm, NetFlix and SkyGo... all of them have absolutely naff video quality.

LoveFilm deliver me 4 bluray discs for about £8 a month. How much did blockbuster want for 4 current rentals on bluray?

Streaming quality varies from distinctly average to "acceptable"; but as I consider that I'm paying the money to rent the discs, and I'm getting all of the instant stuff for free (I wouldn't pay to stream unless the quality was very good), I'm not complaining too hard.

[DonkeyApple]

Fittster said:

DonkeyApple said:

BoRED S2upid said:

Amazon takes another scalp!

To be fair I think the reality is that they've been given another scalp rather than taken one. This was yet another hideously badly run business saddled with massive debt.

How could a Video shop be successfully run in this day and age?

Not much and this has been the case for a long time. But when you look at the accounts of these chains it's the hideous cost of the debt and rent that's sunk them. The crappy revenues could still have maintained the core business. The problem with these firms is that the boards stripped out all the wealth, hocked the firms to the hilt with debt and comprehensively failed to adapt to a world that was very clearly changing.

They never had to stay in their sector. If they'd had the cash and the assets they could have evolved the prime retail outlets with the market.

The real problem now is that the retail units of all these stores are booked in at high costs in vehicles like our pensions so we will be taking a hit as its very likely that new tennents will be able to negotiate lower rents this decimating the book values that were based on 15-20 year exhorbitant rents.

Couple this with the fact that it normally transpires that the debt hole left behind by these chains miraculously transpires to be held by those idiots RBS or HBoS. So that's another hit.

The boards will blame tough markets, online competition or the banks. But it was the board who wed the business to these factors.

It's just another case of cheap debt and huge leverage being mistaken for competent management and business skills.

[Rude-boy]

mrmr96 said:

Otispunkmeyer said:

Wow gutted.

I use blockbuster a lot. For the price of an over priced and sub-quality movie download rental, I can drive to blockbuster and rent the Blu-Ray and have infinitely better picture and sound.

LoveFilm, NetFlix and SkyGo... all of them have absolutely naff video quality. Streaming and download in full prior to watching. Both are st. They're even worse than videos you might find on a certain bay full of pirate types. I rented Total Recall from Sky GO. 1.2 Gig it was and it was worse than a 700 MB DVD rip.

Very sad to see them go.

I bet the Vinyl and Audio CD guys were saying the same things when .mp3 downloads started killing physical sales. The digital files had poorer quality, but the masses didn't seem to care.

They do/did. Have a gander at the HMV thread. Problem is that there are not enough of them to make a viable large business of it any more.

[rover 623gsi]

Newc said:

The company itself is probably ok, but I think the sector is an absolute gift for a properly organised online retailer. "Hey - new mums! Do you want to spend what little time you have spare in the day slogging into town and traipsing round the shops while carrying a newborn, and then have to get all that bulky stuff back home, or shall we just deliver it to you tomorrow morning ?" And it's high margin stuff for the most part.

however - worth bearing in mind that while some new mums don't want to slog round town all day with a little baby, just as many are likely to want to get out of the house at some point and get some fresh air. Little kids are brilliant, but they also drive you up the wall. Stick them in the buggy for a bit to keep them quiet, then walk around the shops looking at stuff you can't afford, stop off for a coffee then back home. Sorted.

[DonkeyApple]

Rude-boy said:

hey do/did. Have a gander at the HMV thread. Problem is that there are not enough of them to make a viable large business of it any more.

I often wondered if there was any business in swapping people's physical collections for digital for a fee and then also using the large floor spaces to sell the old physical?

Where do Magpie sell their stock? Is it overseas?

[Deva Link]

BoRED S2upid said:

The mark up on nappies must be massive then which is probably why mothercare are profitable 200pc profit margins.

You can't have a 200% profit margin.

[Kermit power]

Otispunkmeyer said:

Wow gutted.

I use blockbuster a lot. For the price of an over priced and sub-quality movie download rental, I can drive to blockbuster and rent the Blu-Ray and have infinitely better picture and sound.

LoveFilm, NetFlix and SkyGo... all of them have absolutely naff video quality. Streaming and download in full prior to watching. Both are st. They're even worse than videos you might find on a certain bay full of pirate types. I rented Total Recall from Sky GO. 1.2 Gig it was and it was worse than a 700 MB DVD rip. In short there should still be space for a B&M rental store because the online versions don't supply the same quality or if they do, they're not as spontaneous an option (ie order the DVD and wait rather than just deciding on the spot that you want to watch a movie and go to blockbuster)

Very sad to see them go.

What download speed do you get at home? As I understand it, the likes of Netflix will give you quality matched to your download speed to favour an uninterrupted viewing experience over outright picture quality with lots of pauses for buffering.

I stream Netflix via either a laptop or Xbox360. The picture goes direct via HDMI to a Panasonic 50" plasma, and the sound goes in to a Yamaha amp and Kef speakers. It's not a hugely expensive setup, but it's not cheap rubbish either. The quality I get is great! Yes, if I go and stand 2 feet from the screen, it's not as perfect as Bluray, but watching from the sofa 12 feet away, it's good enough not to be able to notice a difference. When I try watching directly on my laptop on a sodding Virgin trains wifi link on the way to Preston, however, it's blocky and horrible! The biggest difference is 76Mbps home internet vs something like 760K on the train.

Sure, for people who've got their plasma screen set up to provide a cinema-style experience sat 3 feet away from the screen in a darkened room, it's probably not going to satisfy them at the moment, but for the vast majority of people who still have their screen and their chairs arranged in a way which makes sense for using the room as a lounge rather than a cinema, I doubt the streaming services will come in for much criticism so long as the broadband connection is up to the job.