Fancypants Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 My g/f's sister works on the front line of this well-known retail outlet... has just been summoned to a staff meeting, the substance of which was apparently... reduction in opening hours numerous redundancies at management and Head Office level some recent starters at ground level may be "let go" still considering shutting some branches, although nothing certain yet. indeed, her new boss, who seems an intelligent fellow by all accounts, seems to think we are on the edge of recession (I have never met him or influenced him toward this opinion). this is a curious development - while you would expect some discretionary spending to be reigned back as people find tougher times, I would have thought that relatively inexpensive treats such as dvds and videos would do quite well as people seek out cheaper entertainment options. although maybe more people are downloading and copying on the sly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnieDarker Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 Yes. Video/DVD rental is dead IMO. One of the businesses that the internet has killed. The Digital Age takes no prisoners! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
right_freds_dead Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 the days when you would nip to blockbuster for a chick flic and a giant bag of revels are over. romance is dead. contemporary chicks love getting it on with firm members and leery wasters, hard drungs/drinking and watching bootylicious pop videos while all acting like christina auguilerria.....woo-haa !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cupidstunt Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 the days when you would nip to blockbuster for a chick flic and a giant bag of revels are over. romance is dead. contemporary chicks love getting it on with firm members and leery wasters, hard drungs/drinking and watching bootylicious pop videos while all acting like christina auguilerria.....woo-haa !! Calm down dear - it's only a Commercial! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beenhearingthisforyears Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 the days when you would nip to blockbuster for a chick flic and a giant bag of revels are over. romance is dead. contemporary chicks love getting it on with firm members and leery wasters, hard drungs/drinking and watching bootylicious pop videos while all acting like christina auguilerria.....woo-haa !! many people are renting thru internet sites "lovefilms" and "screenselect" etc. this seems to be the way forward. And when you can also download / buy relatively cheaply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnieDarker Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 although maybe more people are downloading and copying on the sly? Rental is completely overpirced too. It's based an a old business model and has not moved with the times. You can import dvds (copied) ones for the same price you can rent them at Blockbuster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest muttley Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 I think Blockbusters is a victim of changing trends,rather tha poor management or worsening economic conditions. I rarely rent,but there are online rental stores which are cheaper and lend you the film for longer.I believe tesco.com are good. I'm sure downloading has played a part too,as has digital TV. The difference in price between buying and renting a DVD has come down significantly too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 Yep. Blockbuster on it's knees. http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2005/c...ary05112202.htm "So where does this leave Blockbuster? Desperate. I felt that way about the company last year, and I'm obviously not feeling any better about its chances now. This is a company that should be making the most of its online traffic by monetizing its traffic through contextual advertising. This is a retailer that should be begging Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) to help it succeed online before Amazon runs off with Netflix or sets up its own video-rental storefront instead. This is a company starving for a cosmetic makeover at the store level. Having creditors relax their terms for a few months won't give Blockbuster the freedom it needs to truly reinvent itself. That's why, in the end, the relief is really nothing more than a leveraged tease. This is a predictable flick in which the ending has been telegraphed for a couple of years now." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
right_freds_dead Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 those glory days of renting out a semi pornographic dirtbox video from the top shelf are long gone. perhaps you could still get a copy of 'porkys' but i doubt it. besides. id rather pull my duff to a few slots of choice benny hills angels in pvc that that american jibe. who said romance was dead ? -she did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnieDarker Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 Can you get shares in Blockbuster? They've a good 'name' and I'm thinking they might be taken over and re-launched with a better model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
right_freds_dead Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 anyway. who ares about a few spotty teen cashiers at some daft rental plot.? these 'wasters' will be able to find other lifesaving occupations such as golf club waiters. bus drivers and leaf blower operators. sure, we'll all miss those scooby-doo voice tones serving us our plastic tragic on a saturday evening, but lord. thats just modern living and if they cant get with the program then they will fall aside, leaving the gateway open for some aggressive city go-getters to fill the void. this my friends is whats known as an entertainment power vacuum. come, come, come bio tech bomb..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnieDarker Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 Nice Mozzer reference. Got tickets for the new tour? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 I think Blockbusters is a victim of changing trends,rather tha poor management or worsening economic conditions. I rarely rent,but there are online rental stores which are cheaper and lend you the film for longer.I believe tesco.com are good. I'm sure downloading has played a part too,as has digital TV. The difference in price between buying and renting a DVD has come down significantly too. I think everything's against them.. It costs £4 to rent a new release from Blockbuster - you can go to the cinema for just a couple of quid more. And today's Hollywood flicks don't exactly demand repeated viewings. If you've seen a film at the cinema, as more and more of us are doing, you're not really gonna want to fork out the same amount to watch it on your tin box. And then there's the real killer... SKY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
right_freds_dead Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 Nice Mozzer reference.Got tickets for the new tour? well spotted. no, but i did see him in preston last year. it was good. the spirit never died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnieDarker Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 well spotted. no, but i did see him in preston last year. it was good. the spirit never died. Saw him at Royal Festival Hall last year...best gig I've ever seen...until you've been to a Morrissey concert you dont know 'live music'. It was ferocious. Going to see him at Alexandra Palace and The Palladium this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viterbi Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 I know this sounds a ridiculous suggestion but I have started to wonder whether the video rental industry should focus more on educational or factual DVDs rather than entertainment. Competition in the entertainment sector is now very stiff and the traditional "rent a movie" approach is fast becoming something of the 80s and 90s. There is no denying that the video rental industry is going to be a shadow of its former self and in this type of situation moving towards a niche rather than mass market is often a good choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aris Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 Went to the cinema today to see Chicken Little (it's crap BTW) - one adult, one child - 12 quid. Ouch. Movie was only about an hour long too! Renting videos is still good value for a family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnd Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 (edited) I stopped going to Blockbuster when I was confronted by a gang of 3 teenagers whilst browsing for DVD's Staff didn't intervene and I just walked out - been ordering from the internet ever since Hope they go under Edited February 12, 2006 by dnd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 You can rent dvds online so why bother with the overheads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuyingBear Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 contemporary chicks love getting it on with firm members and leery wasters, hard drungs/drinking Indeed, one needs to be one bad ass pimp daddy, it's all blingin this, blingin that and horsey tranquilizers, those hard 'drungs' warp peoples cognitive skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.