Blockbusters goes into administration

Blimey! I guess broadband packages and being able to purchase online and stream straight onto the TV has eroded custom for Blockbusters. The way these companies are collapsing is alarming!

OH my Lord it is getting desperate !

It is getting alarming I agree when, as if there aren't already enough people queuing at the job centres I feel very sorry for all those losing jobs.

It makes me feel guilty having done most of my Christmas shopping online that I have contributed towards all these companies going to the wall.

I'm surprised it didn't happen long ago. I found it very inconvenient, having to drive to my nearest branch find a parking space, find all the current films were already out and if you were lucky enough to get one that was current, you had to bring it back by 7 pm the following night, and of course drive back there with it. I believe when I used them a few years ago it was something like £4 or £5 per night for current dvds. I now subscribe to Lovefilm, my package is just over £4 per month for 2 films a month, which is more than enough for us. You get the dvd you want posted to you, you can keep it as long as you want and then you post it back to them in the prepaid envelope. My son subscribes to Netflix and pays roughly £6 for an unlimited package and I suspect they will put Lovefilm out of business. Blockbusters just can't compete what with the overheads of all their shops.

I won't miss any of them but feel for all the people who are losing their jobs.

It was interesting to see that Honda were laying people off last week and Jaguar Landrover were taking people on.

Should add I am of course sorry for those employed by Blockbusters who have lost their jobs, but I'm afraid the writing was on the wall a few years ago and when their competitors emerged with better packages, the original video/dvd rental shops were no longer sustainable.

Our shops are going to end up like those ghastly strip malls you see in the States. BAnanas is right about Blockbuster though - I get three DVDs a month for £5 from Lovefilm - whereas to rent from Blockbuster is about £4 per film - last time I looked. Sad thing is that HMV and Blockbuster have fallen due to Lovefilm and Amazon.
When I lived in Ottawa as a child one of our pleasures was to go into the center of the city to go shopping in Eatons - Canada's main depaertment store at that time. When I went to stay with family 20 odd years later - there was no 'center' of the town. All the shops were in the various malls around the city and in the suburbs. Every mall the same as the last one, every shop part of a chain.

But is it all to be blamed on I internet shopping or the fact shop rents are high as are staff wages bills?

I have just seen news this pm and £100m are outstanding in gift vouchers for HMV this is a dispicable amount for a company to get away with if it is true.I am out to-morrow to use my Body Shop vouchers just in case no one is getting £50.00 of any of my hard earned presents.

I agree glammanana it is down right fraud in my opinion. To take money with no intention of supplying "the goods".

I remember a few years ago when the big furniture group Courts went into receivership, people who had paid for furniture, turned up at their shops with vans and simply took goods to the value of what they had paid. The staff simply stood back and let them until eventually the police turned up and the shutters were pulled down.

Ylil you do have a point regarding rents and rates on shops. We've lost a lot of nice little shops in my area due to greedy landlords.

It's really poor that those with vouchers lose out.