High Street Administration Woes - Blockbuster enters Administration.

[Xenophon PCDGS]

An interesting trend by the big supermarket groups to follow on from their visitation of "retail Armageddon" upon the small privately owned retail business in town and cities is their entry into the marketing of clothing and white goods in addition to entering the banking and insurance markets.

One can always play word association with the two terms "Tesco" and "planning permission" to see the strength and power wielded by that particular organisation. I am surprised that in the recent WCML debacle, that Tesco had not challenged both Virgin and First.

 

[Oswyntail]

An interesting trend by the big supermarket groups to follow on from their visitation of "retail Armageddon" upon the small privately owned retail business in town and cities ,,,

At least here in Ilkley, it is not Tesco/Booths that have created Armageddon, it is those among the local retailers who have taken the selling point of "We're not Tesco, We don't care" to extremes. Coupled with that have been the landowners and excessive rents - is it really more profitable to have a shop stand empty than keep a shop open with smaller rents?

 

[ReverendFozz]

Going back to Blockbuster, I thought they went down the crapper years ago

 

[tbtc]

who else is going to sell stationary? Many people, especially those who do their work while travelling will also need to buy small stationary such as pens etc

With laptops/ smartphones nowadays, who needs to buy stationary so often? Business people will have access to stationary in their office anyway. It's going to be slim pickings for WH Smith.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Coupled with that have been the landowners and excessive rents - is it really more profitable to have a shop stand empty than keep a shop open with smaller rents?

What level of business rates have to be paid by those organisations who own large portions of town and city land where retail units on that land remain empty after the existing retailers have gone out of business or have relocated elsewhere ?

 

[radamfi]

Supermarkets and pound shops sell quite a lot of stationery.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Supermarkets and pound shops sell quite a lot of stationery.

I know that some of the larger supermarkets have an extensive range of magazines now on sale.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Business people will have access to stationary in their office anyway.

For a minute, I assumed that reference was being made to the "stationery cupboard perks" that seem an accepted part of office life these days by the office staff....

 

[wintonian]

I know that some of the larger supermarkets have an extensive range of magazines now on sale.

Including such mainstream titles as Modern Railways in Tesco.

For a minute, I assumed that reference was being made to the "stationery cupboard perks" that seem an accepted part of office life these days by the office staff....

Good old victimless white-collar crime.

 

[tripleseis]

Argos has for some time just sold over priced tat and you will most likely end up taking home something that another 10 people before you have returned as faulty, and I think are a good candidate to go under, particularly as they have done very little until recently to counter the on-line competition beyond starting their own frankly terribly designed

Argos reports strong sales boosted by click-and-collect. I used it myself last month when purchasing a bluray player.

I don't agree - their transport division is failing to respond to competition from Boots and M&S. While they do still mostly monopolize magazines and news - this is not a high margin business and you could not survive on that alone with their current store footprint.

Their high street retail is not doing well at all, most of their profits come from distribution, and a rapidly declining transport division (though airside is OK and is holding that side of the business up).

I could see them wanting to sell of their retail division to concentrate on distribution.

Probably, seeing as newspaper and magazine sales are only going to fall further. They're still profitable though so may cut their losses.

 

[Clip]

Going back to Blockbuster, I thought they went down the crapper years ago

Yup, ever since Sky Movies Box office started I believe.


Its worth pointing about about M&S in stations is that I believe it is SSP who run that side of M&S business which is why it is soley food and drink in the station stores.

 

[Bungle73]

Yup, ever since Sky Movies Box office started I believe.


Its worth pointing about about M&S in stations is that I believe it is SSP who run that side of M&S business which is why it is soley food and drink in the station stores.

The M&S at St. Pancras sells clothes, plants and flowers.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Seeing as newspaper and magazine sales are only going to fall further. They're still profitable though so may cut their losses.

There is now a current trand to accessing magazines on internet-based media, as I noticed in their advertisment for this method in the January 2013 issue of Modern Railways.

 

[SS4]

Why hire DVD's at all - there is no substitute for seeing a Film at the Cinema.

Luckily I have a Cineworld Pass (£14.99) per month and live within walking distance of a Cineworld Venue.

I see at least three films per week so certainy get my moneys worth

You can rip DVDs to your hard drive quite easily these days and have been able to for years

Return the DVD and you've got a bit-perfect copy of the source material.

3D gives me a headache anyway and nobody seems to care about 2D any more. That's before we get into the world of film where uttering the phrase original content will get you sectioned

 

[wintonian]

You can rip DVDs to your hard drive quite easily these days and have been able to for years - on linux with the simple software provided by the GNU Project

Return the DVD and you've got a bit-perfect copy of the source material.

3D gives me a headache anyway and nobody seems to care about 2D any more. That's before we get into the world of film where uttering the phrase original content will get you sectioned

Umm, should we really be telling people how to do this on here? Mind you it's easy enough to Google for those inclined.

 

[SS4]

Umm, should we really be telling people how to do this on here? Mind you it's easy enough to Google for those inclined.

Hmm, good point. I've removed it from my post

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Hmm, good point. I've removed it from my post

It is still in the quote used by wintonian

 

[wintonian]

It is still in the quote used by wintonian

Not any more it's not.

 

[142094]

Are York City Council not currently discussing some subsidised bus routes ?

Probably, happens all the time.

The problem with the P+Rs is they are only really used by people from outside York, who drive in to the area and park on the outskirts. The majority of the buses then only have limited stops into the city centre. Plus, I'll not mention the FTR saga.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Just read on the news this morning that Blockbuster were closing a number of their stores and I instantly said that Ellesmere Port would be first to go, so I happen to go into town and what do I see at Blockbuster.......CLOSING DOWN SALE so my thoughts were right so I went in and got LA Noire, Sleeping Dogs for about 30 something (I dont know exactly because my dad bought them) and I managed to pick up 2 free GTA V posters that you get when you pre-order GTA V, but they are not open when GTA V come out so they were giving them away. Bargain!

Such a shame that Ellesmere Port is losing most of it's shops, we lost McDonalds in December, lost Walmsleys furniture, lost TJ Hughes, Gamestation, Costa, Card Factory, Woolys, losing Blockbuster and there's rumors that KFC is packing it's bag's aswell!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Such a shame that Ellesmere Port is losing most of it's shops, we lost McDonalds in December, lost Walmsleys furniture, lost TJ Hughes, Gamestation, Costa, Card Factory, Woolys, losing Blockbuster and there's rumors that KFC is packing it's bag's aswell!

I thought that you were a dedicated shopper at Cheshire Oaks..

 

[ATW Alex 101]

I thought that you were a dedicated shopper at Cheshire Oaks..

Only if I am shopping for clothes, but then again most of my clothes come from sports direct which has a branch in town, or I go out for a meal now McDonalds has departed from the high street of Ellesmere Port. Ellesmere port has the more practical stores, Cheshire Oaks and the Colosseum have most of the big brand names. And who says I cant visit both?

Talking on the subject of McDonalds, look at how desolate it looks now:

Before

After

 

[johnnyp_360]

264 blockbuster stores have been purchased by a "restructuring specialist" the Gordon Brrothers. Saving over 2000 jobs (including mine ).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21912508

 

[tbtc]

264 blockbuster stores have been purchased by a "restructuring specialist" the Gordon Brrothers. Saving over 2000 jobs (including mine ).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21912508

Interesting news (and glad to hear you're keeping your job!).

Despite this newfangled internet thing, I think there's still room for one chain in most towns selling physical entertainment products (DVDs, CDs, Games, Gadgets etc) - if Blockbuster can steal a march on HMV and Game (who both have their own "restructuring" issues) then they may have a niche.

They have the possible advantage of smaller shops that can be more focussed (rather than the HMV approach of still trying to offer a fairly comprehensive "catalogue").

 

[radamfi]

or I go out for a meal now McDonalds has departed from the high street of Ellesmere Port.

There must be an out-of-town McDonalds nearby. Similarly McDonalds closed down in Rochdale town centre as there are two out-of-town ones in the town.

The one in Redhill town centre is still open, but has reduced its hours in the evening because of an out-of-town branch nearby opens late.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

There must be an out-of-town McDonalds nearby. Similarly McDonalds closed down in Rochdale town centre as there are two out-of-town ones in the town.

The one in Redhill town centre is still open, but has reduced its hours in the evening because of an out-of-town branch nearby opens late.

Yep Cheshire oaks has it's McDonalds complete with a drive-thru. Possibly one of the other reasons for Maccys' departure is that it was just relying on shoppers in the town which nowadays is slowly declining. A drive-thru would have probably kept the Ellesmere port McDonalds in business. At one point Cheshire Oaks had two McDonalds stores, the existing one and one in the old food court which is now an M&S clothes store. (Which I feel was a stupid decision having just built Britain's biggest M&S out of London next door).

Also the close(ish) proximity to the M53 allows motorway travellers to come off and just through the drive-thru and out again with a meal, making it more popular than it is. It can be extremely busy in there pretty often.

Also since my post before this, KFC opposite Ellesmere port's McDonalds branch has since shut down as well. Not really a surprise and I'm surprised that health & safety didn't shut them down years ago. Somehow by their standards it was ok when the actual paper chicken buckets themselves had ran out, to just put the whole order of a bargain bucket straight onto the tray and I mean the actual plastic of the tray so no paper in-between. Before this happened I noticed the cleaner picking a lot of trays up off the floor where they had fallen off the top of the bin and take it into the kitchen area and put it straight onto the pile of trays to be given out. Grim and disgusting.

 

[Skimble19]

264 blockbuster stores have been purchased by a "restructuring specialist" the Gordon Brrothers. Saving over 2000 jobs (including mine ).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21912508

Glad to hear you're safe.. Shame the same cant be said for the 10 people at my local store, which closed just 3 days before this announcement. (As have pretty much all other BB stores around here - Bedfordshire!)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

264 blockbuster stores have been purchased by a "restructuring specialist" the Gordon Brothers. Saving over 2000 jobs (including mine ).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21912508

May I offer you my congratulations, as losing your job in this economic climate in the retail sector is not good at the present time.

 

[johnnyp_360]

Thanks Guys. It has been a strange few weeks as quite a few of my colleagues have been lost their jobs. Us remaining staff are hoping that this investment company 'really does invest' in us. Time will tell

and I managed to pick up 2 free GTA V posters that you get when you pre-order GTA V, but they are not open when GTA V come out so they were giving them away. Bargain!

That made me laugh, You wouldn't belive how many GTA posters we have that were sent from closed stores, can't get rid of them! :roll:

 

[martin2345uk]

I don't quite understand, will this new company be keeping the BB stores going as BB stores?

 

[johnnyp_360]

We don't know yet. All we have been told is that we will be offering 'new products and services' to customers. Still very early days.