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Thread: Farewell HMV... farewell!

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cykotic View Post
    oh and now Blockbuster just went under too
    what do you mean just, they went under in the states a few years ago.
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  2. #17
    Twitching Cykotic's Avatar
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    they just went under here

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    Yet another business that couldn't/wouldn't compete with changing market trends.

    They tried DVD rentals through the post, but the quality of their discs were shocking - most of them were mucky (one had what I hope was glue stuck on the data side), and I kid you not, one disc turned up in the post cleanly snapped into two pieces. On the other hand, LoveFilm's discs - from my experience - have all been rather clean and tidy.

    I perused Blockbuster's used sales too - and the prices were rubbish - you had used items selling for more than brand new items online.

    Times have changed. We had a local rental shop in town that we always used to go to (they had £1 rentals on Thursdays, a time I fondly remember), but that went under a decade ago or thereabouts - it's certainly been gone for several years now. If you're not streaming media, you're doing postal rentals - the most convenient form of delivery wins out in the end, and Blockbuster was an out-dated business model - just like Jessops and HMV - they didn't change to keep up with the market, or perhaps they just weren't capable, in which case that's just how the market rolls eventually.

  4. #19
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    I remember a local video rental place from when I lived in Newcastle. The guy who owned it was an encyclopedia of movie knowledge and knew every film he had in his catalogue. I can guarantee, if you went in that store, you would come out with what you were looking for EVERY TIME... Blockbuster moved in near by and the little shop of treasures went tits up.

    I tried blockbuster... I swore from that moment, I would NEVER go back. The staff were always rude, they had no idea what they were talking about, their movie knowledge was the same as a nun in a swingers club (no idea what they were doing or how the f*** they got there) and they didn't care about their job.

    Things like netflix, LoveFilm and on-demand services are killing things like Blockbuster and HMV, in the same way that they killed the Indie shops. Jessops either couldn't or wouldn't accept the fact that most people have the same technology in their smart phones that they do in their DSLR's.

    Maybe there is hope for HMV... I wanted Jessops to stay around... Game went under but was saved.

    See ya later Blockbuster... don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out biatch!

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cykotic View Post
    I remember a local video rental place from when I lived in Newcastle. The guy who owned it was an encyclopedia of movie knowledge and knew every film he had in his catalogue. I can guarantee, if you went in that store, you would come out with what you were looking for EVERY TIME... Blockbuster moved in near by and the little shop of treasures went tits up.

    I tried blockbuster... I swore from that moment, I would NEVER go back. The staff were always rude, they had no idea what they were talking about, their movie knowledge was the same as a nun in a swingers club (no idea what they were doing or how the f*** they got there) and they didn't care about their job.

    Things like netflix, LoveFilm and on-demand services are killing things like Blockbuster and HMV, in the same way that they killed the Indie shops. Jessops either couldn't or wouldn't accept the fact that most people have the same technology in their smart phones that they do in their DSLR's.

    Maybe there is hope for HMV... I wanted Jessops to stay around... Game went under but was saved.

    See ya later Blockbuster... don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out biatch!
    1) Classic.

    2) Yeah, I don't remember our local rental shop being particularly movie-nerdy, but it was pleasant in general. We used it most weeks, so it seemed, and I've still got some big box ex-rental VHS tapes in my collection from there. They had a whole section for videogames (and yes, a porn area behind a beaded curtain - classic), and you could buy amounts of time on the consoles they had set up. I remember the protests kids would put up when their time was up and the staff would come over and turn off the console, lol.

    I also have fond memories of going to the Mega Drive (Genesis) section of games which was right next to the horror section - I'd see all these wonderful covers and just think "wow, someday I'll get to see these movies".

    Blockbuster though, I never used one generally as we didn't have one in our area, but I have been into a few elsewhere and they just felt like factories. Nothing special.

    Perhaps some HMVs will stick around, like maybe they'll vastly shrink their number of shops to just some key areas and try to focus their approach ... or maybe it will go belly up. Game, as you say, survived - although when you go to their site you can't help but wonder how. They're flogging Gears of War 3 (bog standard edition) at an "on sale" price of £39.99 ... i.e. the standard launch day price. Hmmm...

  6. #21
    Twitching Cykotic's Avatar
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    So what do we think of this development?

    http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/n...mv-stores.html

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cykotic View Post
    oh and now Blockbuster just went under too
    It's clear the internet is hitting the high street hard!
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  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cykotic View Post
    So what do we think of this development?

    http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/n...mv-stores.html
    Hmmm ... you would have thought that a company which was only very recently under the gun and nearly went bust itself, and whose prices aren't exactly competitive (but not always crap to be fair), would be wanting to knuckle down and focus on embedding what they've currently got.

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